Trick or Treat You Right
by GarrulousParakeet
Summary: The Hopps family is by no means small, so every year come Halloween time, the older siblings of the bunch are assigned a handful of youngsters to treat to a spooky Halloween night; Judy herself included. Luckily for her, she has the honor of taking on the group that proves to be the biggest pawful year after year. Good thing she knows a guy...
1. Seventeen Tricks In a Bag

_This Halloween the most bizarre thing happened and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. As if possessed by some dark, evil entity, I decided I would write a Wildehopps story that didn't feel like an angst driven punch in the gut. Bizarre, I know, but I thought I would upload it regardless. I'll post the rest if you guys end up liking it._

…

"And _there_ goes the point, come on guys!" The fox glared at his television screen and dropped his controller into his lap. Throwing himself back first into the nest of blankets he made on his apartment floor, he squirmed around in an attempt at finding a comfortable position to wallow in his tragic, digital defeat.

All things considered, though, this isn't a bad way to start the morning.

Sure, the autumnal haze October brings with it has encompassed Zootopia in earnest now, effectively snuffing out any light that would otherwise be shining through his windows at the moment; but he kinda liked the dreary atmosphere fall provided. It was nice and cozy and _cold,_ which made the fact that he was so incredibly warm in this dinky little apartment he bought with his cop's salary _all the more satisfying_.

And _oh baby_ does a warm cup of cheap store bought coffee sit just right in his stomach during mornings such as this one.

The icing on the cake, however, fills him with an even greater warmth.

Get ready for _this_.

Are you sitting down? You really ought to be.

It's a Sunday, and that means he has the morning free of a certain fluffy lieutenant altogether _too_ partial towards the act of making him wake up at the most unholy of hours – 9:00 Am – before forcing him to go to work. Don't get the guy wrong, he enjoys his job, and he loves the bunny-

 _Wait_

 _No_

He enjoys his job, and he is _platonically_ fond of the bunny, but having the morning off to play video games was a nice little get away. It was Nick time, and nobunny is going to ruin it.

 _Knock Knock Knock_

 _"Niiiiiick"_ a familiar voice drawled. " _Nick can I come in_?"

 _Ah, goat dammit_.

He sat upright, the next match had already started and he couldn't leave _now_.

"Judy?" he asked timidly.

"Open the door?" the voice on the other side requested.

"No…" he said, weighing the pros and cons of politely telling her to go away.

"No? What- Open the door!"

"But I'm playing video games…" he responded dejectedly.

"Then pause it!"

"Its online!" he replied.

"Then just turn it off!"

"I can't! There is a penalty for leaving the match early!"

" _Nicholas Wilde, if you don't open this door so help me_ -"

"Coming, _I'm coming_!" he said, frantically scampering up from his little blanket fort and over to his front door, not without a few curses muttered under his breath.

The door swung open, revealing the rabbit, already bouncing on the balls of her feet. The grey bunny looked dressed for a day out in the burrows, oddly enough, with her pink flannel, tan khakis and sun hat. The rudely bright light of the hallway annoyed him.

"Know what day it is, slick?" she asks, a smile accenting her twitchy features.

"October…?" he reasoned.

The rabbit ceased her bouncing to shake her head and bite the corner of her cheek in disapproval. Wrong answer, it would seem. If that was all she had to ask, then he was just going to go back to his game.

And really, she should have consulted a calendar before bothering him.

"You have no idea what today is?" came her next question.

"Should I?"

The rabbit spun around in a three sixty before facing him again, her mouth opened wide in shock, her paws gripping at her ears in frustration.

"Nick, You promised!"

 _Wait_

 _It couldn't be her birthday, that wasn't for another few months._

 _It couldn't be a work day, it was Sunday; he made certain of that fact._

 _It couldn't be that today is laundry day, she wouldn't have made such a big deal about it._

"I'm… sorry?"

"Nick, do you honestly not know what I'm talking about?" she said, lowering her voice as she continued to speak. The door to a neighboring apartment was ajar, the occupant no doubt listening intently to their conversation. "Tomorrow is Halloween, does that mean anything to you?"

"It means that…"

The bunny nodded, waiting expectantly.

"…that I shouldn't open my door under any conditions tomorrow evening." He said, placing a clawed paw on the door frame, leaning against it with smug satisfaction.

 _Victory_

"Today is the day you promised we would take _my_ group of siblings out to go shopping for their costumes."

The machinery in the fox's brain worked tirelessly for a good fifteen seconds trying to decipher what he had just heard. A cryptic message, she almost made it seem like she expected him to leave his apartment this fine Sunday. Such an oddity, what could she have possibly meant? The smug grin slowly fell from his muzzle, landing on the floor with a silent thud, signifying a horrifying moment of realization. He pressed his paws to his closed maw and shut his eyes as if he were in the middle of some devout prayer.

"Judy?" he asked.

"Uh-huh?"

"Why the _fuck_ did we wait so long to do this?"

"Every time I asked, you insisted that you were busy!" she shouted with her arms stretched wide, raising her voice a little too loud once more.

He dropped to his knees in front of her, meeting her eye to eye so that they may continue their conversation a little more candidly. Without saying a word, he rested his paw on her shoulder.

"You know you aren't supposed to let me lie to you. We both know I had nothing better to do."

"I-" the bunny breathed out, attempting to defend herself. "Yeah, I know…" she admitted, disappointed in herself.

But not nearly as disappointed as he was. How could she let this happen? _Now_ look at the trouble they're in. Why, if Miss responsible rabbit over here was a bit _more_ responsible, her siblings would likely already have their Halloween costumes picked out and ready for a pleasant night of trick or treating. Now they are going to have to settle for whatever is leftover in the crummy Halloween stores down in the burrows.

Well, at least it isn't his fault this time. None of the blame could _really_ be attributed to him, not in any way, shape or form, but if there is any personality trait he relates to most in this world, its benevolence. He'll get her out of this mess, if it's the last thing he does.

"Don't worry carrots, I'll get you out of this mess, if it's the last thing I do."

She scowled at him, furrowing her brow and brushing his paw off her shoulder.

"Whatever, just put some pants on so that we can leave."

The fox looked down, only to find that he was clad exclusively in his boxers, hung loose around his waist.

"Truth be told though, I kinda like the pattern." She offered, pointing out the little carrots that adorned his shorts.

With a violent blush – luckily hidden by his already cherry orange fur – he slammed the door in her face.

.

.

.

"Hey! At least let me inside!" the rabbit shouts.

"Please?"

…

"Right, right-" the fox laughed at the rabbit's offhand comment about his story, feet up on the dashboard of the truck as they drove down the dirt path to Judy's childhood home. "And so I slip the king of spades into my coat pocket and, voila! I'm a hundred and thirty-five bucks richer!"

The rabbit laughed aloud, nearly veering off the road. She took a moment to wipe a single tear out from under her eye, sniveling as she did so. "Oh, I would have loved to arrest you in that very moment, you sinister little card shark. You know that?"

Nick laughed back, his violent cackling shaking the drivers compartment of the banged-up jalopy a tad. "Good thing I'm a reformed mammal then. Wouldn't want Officer Toot Toot on my tail, now would I?" The bunny drew her attention from the steering wheel to give him a well-deserved sucker punch to his arm. Rubbing the area as he continued to laugh, the fox continued: "But if I'm being honest, I think I could get away."

"Think so?" she challenged, her eyes on the road, a coy smile on her muzzle.

"I do." He replied in a sing-song voice. "I've got quite the bag of tricks you know, it isn't easy catching old slick Nick out.

" _Really_?" she mocked, faux surprise lacing her tone of voice. "Well, how many tricks have you got in that bag of yours?"

He thought for a moment, looking up as he pondered.

"At the _very_ least, seventeen whole tricks."

" _Woaaaah_ …" she gasped, her voice still incredulous. "Seventeen _entire tricks_? You're right, that does amount to a bag of tricks."

He snorted.

"I don't need you to tell me that, I've done the math." He said, leaning further back in his seat as he stretched his legs. "I'll tell you what though, carrots, if you're a good little bunny – and promise not to hit me for the rest of the day – I might teach you a thing or two."

Pulling into her family's dusty drive way, Judy opened the driver side door and hopped out, kicking up a dirt cloud as she landed.

"Well, I reckon you've got yourself a deal." She said, Nick stepping out of the truck to join her.

"Good." He said, brushing stray flecks of dirt off his pants and tie. "But I've got another stipulation. I get that we're in country bumpkin land now, the place where you were raised, but try not to use the word 'reckon'. It makes you come off as a bit dorky. You know, more so than you already are."

The rabbit balled her paw into a fist only to let it gently fall back down to her side.

"Well, we wouldn't want either of us looking dorky, now would we?"

"No way" he replied.

"We're cops after all. Gotta keep professional." She continued.

" _Right."_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _"_ Sleep with one eye open tonight scruff."

With her threat – or better yet, promise – spoken in no uncertain terms, she walked with her companion to the front door of the old Hopp's family household. The wooden exterior was as charming as it had been the last time he visited, leading into a mound of earth behind it, the typical bunny burrow from which the district derived its name. Several windows stuck out from the bulbous dirt, likely connecting the rooms of innumerable rabbits to the outside world.

No Halloween decorations though.

"Say, isn't ole' pumpkin day supposed to be really big in this area?" Nick asked the rabbit standing next to him as she knocked on the door.

"Yeah, the paths flood with trick or treaters come Halloween night."

"Then what's with the lack of spooky decorations? We passed by three burrows on our way over that were scarier than most horror houses in the main district, and all I see on _this_ dirt mound are a few cob webs."

If he didn't know any better, he'd say that those are probably only there due to the Hopps being too lazy to clean the place up, but he understood them to be very anal retentive mammals and gave them the benefit of the doubt. In all likelihood, they really were there for the august aesthetic.

"We used to get real busy round this time of year, being the top producers for fall harvest and all. Doesn't look like this years any different." Judy breathed out, slightly disappointed. "That's not to say that we can't fix the place up tonight though, right?"

The fox squirmed a little bit in his fur.

"Aw Geez, honestly carrots, left to my own devices, I'd probably just go back home and take a nap after all this is said and done."

She patted his side gently with one paw, knocking on the wooden door in front of them with the other once more.

"Good thing you aren't, red, good thing you aren't."

.

.

.

"So… does it usually take this long for somebunny to come around and answer the door?" the fox asked, growing tired of being kept waiting.

"No…"

It was kinda chilly outside.

 _Knock Knock Knock_

" _Mom?_ "

 _Knock Knock Knock_

" _Anyone_?"

It was like, _really_ chilly.

It took a while, but soon enough they heard the pitter patter of floppy rabbit feet striking the hard-wood paneling of the floor in the house. Good thing too, any longer out here and he may have needed to snuggle with Judy for warmth, and taking into consideration his previous comments he made a mental note that such a situation would be most unfavorable for him.

"Who's that with you?" came a meek, effeminate voice from behind the door.

"Who's asking?" Judy said, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow, looking directly into the peephole.

"Joey is asking." The voice replied.

"Well, can joey open the door for his big sis and her good friend Nicholas Wilde?"

"I don't know, Ma told me not to talk to strangers, and you're pretty strange."

The doe standing on the outside of the door frowned.

"Don't be speciesist Joey-"

"I was talking about you. The fox looks like a nice enough guy."

"Open the door!"

"Opening!"

The tumblers turned and clicked, the rabbit and fox stood out in the cold; eyeing the door knob intently. Suddenly, the entire porch shook. Heavy footsteps came rumbling from the other side of the door.

"I'll get it!" a coarse young voice bellowed.

"Charlie, wait! I'm going to fall!" the feebler of the two warned.

"I've got it!" the voice replied.

"Stop!"

There came a heavy crashing, the sound of which made Nick cringe. Judy stood with her arms still folded, her gaze fixed on the door, irritated but not at all surprised.

After a few more dreadful moments – the fox still standing there in suspense and confusion – the wooden door swung open gently, revealing a smiling, chubby little bunny standing proudly before them. Another rabbit, presumably joey, reeled in pain on the floor; the step stool he had used to reach the peephole lying upturned on the ground beside him.

"Hi, I'm Charlie!" the little bruiser said, holding his paw out to Nick.

"No hello for your big sister?"

"Nope!" he said, just as cheerily as before.

"Nick Wilde!" the fox replied, matching the rabbits happy tone as they shook paws.

Judy stepped inside the house, helping Joey up and onto his little feet as the two fools behind her exchanged greetings.

More footsteps could be heard coming right for them. Letting go of the chubby bunny's paw, the fox cringed. How many more of these things were there? This time the feet walked with a plodding pace, accompanied by lighter steps which, had you not been paying close attention, you may have missed all together.

Their owners turned the corner.

A short bunny in a little pink onesie held paws with an even shorter rabbit, his cheeks nice and plump, a cereal bowl grasped firmly in his free paw. They stood at the end of the corridor, eyes on the fox.

"Looks like the gangs all here! Glad you could make it guys." Judy said with a gentle smile, gesturing for the two younger siblings to join the rest of them near the front door.

Cautiously, they took the remaining few steps to join the rest of the group. Judy shut the front door to prevent the frigid breeze from chilling them any more than it already had.

The kits continued to stare at the fox.

"Hi there, kiddo…" Nick said to the shortest of the bunch, waving his open paw awkwardly at the r.

The little one said nothing, refusing to break his gaze.

"Whatcha got there?" the fox continued, pointing gingerly at the bowl of cereal in his paws.

"Deeyos" the little one replied matter-o-factly, not bothering to take his eyes off the guy.

"What?"

"I gotta a sum deeyos!" he shouted sternly.

Nick stumbled backwards, surprised to find that such a tiny mammal could muster up such an irritated tone of voice.

"Cereal, he has cereal." The bunny in the onesie explained sheepishly. "He has a speech impediment."

The fox's features softened further.

"Impediment…" Nick mused, chuckling to himself a little. "That's a big word for someone your age to be using. What's your name?"

"Claire. Papa says that I'm a smart kit."

"Papa's right." Judy said, putting her paw gently behind the backs of the youngest kits. Let's go into your room and sit down. There's a lot to talk about before we head on out."

"and _your_ name, kiddo?" Nick asked the little cereal bearing one as they followed the doe.

"Edum" he replied.

"His name is Edmund." Claire said, brushing the fur on his head back.

Joey attempted to walk after them; only to be pushed out of the way by Charlie, eager to be at the front of the group.

…

Crawling on his paws and knees, Nick barely managed to fit through the door to the kit's bedroom. Luckily, it was a lot more spacious then he had expected it to be. The boys ran to their closets, picking out their clothes for the day.

Edmund handed his half-eaten bowel of cheerios to his sister, who simply smiled as he walked back over to the closet to get dressed. She didn't move, electing instead to stand close to Judy.

"Should Claire change before we go out?" Nick whispered.

Judy snickered.

"You can ask her to, but she won't. She wears that onesie everywhere she goes. It's hard enough to get the damn thing washed. I can't imagine her going an entire _hour_ without it."

"Noted" he replied.

…

Nick tried his best to mingle with the kids as he stood outside the family burrow, anxiously waiting for Judy to step outside. She said she had to get a few things and that he should be fine taking care of the little ones for a few short minutes.

Just a few short minutes.

They clamored for his attention and argued, chasing one another here and there. Eventually breaking away from the rest of the group, Edmund approached Nick by himself, a blank look held on his face.

"Hey there." Nick said, wearing his best smile.

"Wan see ma pack-pack?" the little one asked, staring upwards at him with a look of inquiry.

"Sure… I guess." Nick replied.

With a flourish, the little rabbit spun around, revealing a tiny backpack with a cartoon bunny sewn into the front patch. Nick was surprised to find that his forced smile was being replaced by a real one all too quickly.

"Wow, cool!" he said, crouching down so that he could better be on the level of the tiny tot.

"Hank, mama did it."

"Did she now…" Nick said, holding in a chuckle. He thinks he got that one.

"Alright, gather around kids!" Judy said, exiting the house. Behind her stood another female rabbit who looked to be around her age.

The mammals – Nick included – scampered over to the doe like the children they are. They attentively awaited her next words.

"Oh, am I glad to see you." Nick whispered to her. "I'm just no good with kits."

Judy waved him off.

"Really carrots, I-"

"So, are you guys ready for Nick to take you costume shopping?"

The fox stood there, processing what she had just said. It's funny, because it almost sounded like he was going to be taking them out all by his lonesome, which would be a terrible idea. Thankfully, she wasn't foolish enough to make that decision.

"Trish and I are going to decorate while you're out, and when you get back you can help us, sound good?" She nodded at the doe standing behind her, presumably the Trish in question.

She was foolish enough to make that decision.

Cries of excitement erupted from the group of kits, starkly contrasting the horrified expression that now fit snug as a bug in a rug on the fox's face.

His partner turned to him, the corners of her muzzle lifting upwards into a jeering smile.

"Go on Foxy, open up your bag of tricks. I'm willing to wager that all of them put together won't be getting you out of this one."

Nick looked around himself in horror. Edmund clung tightly to his leg, Claire taking hold of his belly. Joey held fast to his back and Charlie hopped atop Joey to take hold of the fox's head. Oh goat, oh goat she was right. Nothing will save him from the paws and cuddles of these demons.

And so, he was consumed.

By their adoration.

Unfortunately, he was still very much alive and would have to drag them through the streets of bunny burrow.

There is a moral somewhere in this story, but it was lost on him.

...

 _Yikes, fluff. Hope it wasn't too icky, we'll return to your regularly scheduled sob-fest shortly. Speaking of sob-fests, for those interested, the third chapter of "What I Didn't Do" (You know, the angst porn?) is underway! Here, accept this sneak peek as a peace offering:_

 _"And then they did."_

 _Welp, that settles that! See you next time, and if you'd like to see more, please do leave a review!Opening Authors Note: This Halloween the most bizarre thing happened and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. As if possessed by some dark, evil entity, I decided I would write a Wildehopps story that didn't feel like an angst driven punch in the gut. Bizarre, I know, but I thought I would upload it regardless. I'll post the rest if you guys end up liking it._


	2. A (Fool's) Guide To Taking Care of Kits

_What's this, back to back uploads? If you think that's sweet, have I got a treat for you!_

…

"I beng the apartament?"

Nick felt a tiny vice tighten around a pawful of his pantleg.

The little creature cleared its throat before beginning again.

" _I beng the apartament_!"

The fox looked down as he walked into town, only to find a rabbit toddling alongside him.

"You _what_ the apartment?"

"He begs your pardon." Claire explained, quickening her pace as to catch up to the fox, his stride a little too quick for the children.

"Thanks for clarifying, Claire." He replied; and having thought about what he had just said, snorted a little. "What's up little guy?"

"Charlie _coppering_ me." Edmund explained, wearing more indignation upon his face then Nick had previously thought possible.

"Am _not_!" the accused stated.

"Are too!" Joey chimed in.

Edmund nodded vigorously, which Charlie copied in turn, nodding just as the little one had in an attempt to rile him up.

And it worked.

And voices rose.

And for the fifth time since they had left the Hopps household, the children looked to be close to blows.

If this was what having siblings was all about, he was glad he absorbed his twin in the womb.

He didn't _really_ do such a thing, but he enjoys watching the reactions he gets from other mammals when he tells them he did. It just seems like the type of thing he would do.

" _Stop_." He said as Charlie pushed Joey to the ground.

" _Don't_." He begged half-heartedly as Edmund charged the chubbier rabbit headfirst.

"Knock it off?" He asked with an eye-roll as the two rolled around in the dusty path right outside the gates of the town; luckily outside the eyesight of any belligerent bunnies, many of whom wouldn't take too kindly to the sight of a fox carting around four well-behaved rabbit kits, let alone four who seem to be making it their personal goals to maim one another.

It's in times like these that he has to take a step back and wonder just how it was that his ancestors went about eating these rambunctious creatures. With as much spunk and vitriol each of them seems to possess, you'd think a fox would get heart burn or something, wouldn't you?

" _Hey_ , _chill out or we're going home_."

Four pairs of eyes immediately locked onto the fox, each almost glossy and already on the verge of tears. The paw Edmund had raised in the air to administer the brutal coup de grace to his older brother slowly fell to his side in resignation.

"Hey, I…" Nick stammered, unsure of what to say to quell the oncoming storm.

"You don't mean it, do you?" Joey asked, climbing off Charlie's chest.

"We'll be good, _honest_ …" Charlie said, sitting up in the dirt.

"I- Well…"

"Please Mister Nick?" Claire pleaded, her voice sweet and clear despite the fact that her pained face gave away the fact that she was moments away from crying.

"Don't cry or then we'll really go home!" the fox choked out.

And so the waterworks began.

 _Fuck!_

Not an ant, nor cricket or katydid standing below their feet was spared by the damning flood that swiftly poured forth from the rabbit kit's eyes. Hell was raised, nations burned and all hope seemed to die in that very moment, metaphorically of course.

"Geez I… I didn't mean it. We'll- Uh, we can…"

Why are they even crying? If anyone should be crying in this situation _, its him_! He wasn't certain, but he was _pretty_ sure it was _him_ their sister hung out to dry. In fact, if they don't pipe down he may very well join them. What else is there to do in a time such as this one?

"Ok! Fine! We're fine!" he stated, raising his paws defensively. "We'll stay out, just… calm down, ok?"

As quickly as they started the waterworks shut off.

 _Phew!_

Hope burned bright again, nations rebuilt and Hell was sealed away once more. The ants and other insects rejoiced the passing of the flood. Perhaps a rainbow would reveal itself to them as a promise that such a storm will never strike them again. Or at least not for the next hour or so.

Charlie got up from the ground and shoved Edmund violently back, scowling at Joey as he did so. Claire wrapped her arms around herself tighter than before. All was right in the world.

For the next hour or so.

…

An hour or so passed.

To the fox's relief, however, the kits were preoccupied taking in the scenery of the town, so much so that they seem to have developed a truce in favor of sightseeing.

Joey crinkled his nose as they passed by the first costume shop, breathing in the unfamiliar scent of the heavy water vapor emitting from the novelty fog machine the owner had just set up outside the door.

"How-" the rabbit began.

" _Woah!_ " Edmund explained, breaking his brothers train of thought, "Howdo so much frog?"

Nick looked to his left, and then to his right, spinning around till his eyes finally landed on the little sister of the group. He raised an eyebrow at her, to which she nodded knowingly.

"He wants to know how come there is so much fog."

Nick swiveled on his heels in an attempt to find the littlest rabbit again, which was no easy task seeing as he had moved from where he last was, deciding the fog required closer inspection.

"Edmund." He called out. "Don't go so far ahead of me."

The bunny kit plodded on his floppy feet back over to the rest of the group, looking up at the tod expectantly.

"So why _is_ there fog?" Joey asked.

"You guys have never seen a fog machine?"

The siblings exchanged glances. Charlie looked back at the fox and shrugged.

"Don't get out much, do you?" Nick inquired.

"We have to take turns going out. Mama and Papa say that too many of us are a pawful." Claire explained, pinching at the sleeve of her onesie.

 _Well, now he feels like a dick for even suggesting he would take them home._

"So?" Charlie interrupted his self-deprecating musing.

"So what?"

"So what's with all the fog!?" the bruiser cried.

"Uh…" the fox took a moment to answer, looking over at the machine emanating the fine mist. "There is a machine, and it… makes fog?"

Seemed like a fairly obvious explanation to him.

The children, however, were taken aback. Their round little eyes grew ten sizes – or something like that – and not a single one of them could decide whether they should be staring at the mysterious fog machine, capable of some bizarre magic, or the fox that stood before them; the mammal with all the answers.

"You sure know a lot about things, Mister Nick!" Claire cried.

Nick stood dumbstruck by the compliment. Maybe children aren't all bad.

Joey looked up at him and nodded, equally astonished.

"Yeah, I suppose I _do_ know a lot, don't I?" he said.

The bunnies around him, cute – and perceptive – things they are, hopped up and down excitedly; just as bunnies are prone to do.

"Well crew, what say you? Shall we go inside?"

The hopping stopped.

"In _there_?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, of course! That's where we are going to get your costumes, isn't it?"

The siblings huddled together and whispered amongst themselves, eventually breaking apart so that they could present to their vulpine guardian just why it is that going inside such a store would be a terrible idea.

"But… the fog…" Charlie whimpered.

"What about it?"

"There's too much." Joey explained, rubbing his arm bashfully.

"Scawy!" Edmund chimed in.

 _You have got to be kidding me._

"It's just water, watch." He said, taking a step through the wall of mist and into the store.

A gasp fell over the group.

Seconds passed, should they hold a funeral? Claire could write the eulogy-

Nick emerged from the wall once more, victoriously defeating the terrifying blanket of white cloudy stuff.

And the crowd roared their admiration!

"Now you try." Nick said, looking at Joey.

The kit took a few cautious steps towards the doorway, gingerly waving his paw in the mist.

No.

He stepped back, clinging to the fox's side.

Nick ran a paw down his face.

"Ok, let's just try someplace else."

…

As they walked down town side the rabbits paused in front of every store to admire the decorations, going on to cite said decorations as the reason they couldn't _possibly_ go inside. Spooky masks adorned the walls of the small town shops, and while they made for great viewing at a distance, the little bunnies decided that they would surely be consumed on the spot should they get too close. The Jack-O-Lanterns set up outside one quaint little costume boutique were equally cool, but the sharp teeth they had carved out seemed alien to rabbits who spent every Halloween watching their Ma and Pa carve carrots, blueberries and cute little rabbit faces into their pumpkins.

Maybe it was time for a break.

"You guys hungry?"

…

"Wanna cart fwi!" Edmund exclaimed.

"That's carrot fries." Claire explained.

"What do you say?" Joey admonished the tyke.

"Wanna cart fwi _pwease_!" He responded, throwing his head forward as he enunciated the 'pwease'.

The menu was a bunch of vegatable junk, which is understandable, seeing as this _is_ bunny burrow. Still, the food stand beats the hell out of most of the produce carts strewn about the bustling bunny marketplace. It would be nice if they sold a meal that wasn't so veggie-heavy, but it will have to do.

"wanna letsa-burr too." Edmund piped up again.

Nick scanned the menu once, twice and a third time.

 _Nope._

"Sorry kid, doesn't look like they've got any letsa-burrs round these parts."

The tyke's eyes drooped incredulously.

"A letserner?" He insisted, hopping up and down in frustration.

"He wants a lettuce burger." Claire explained, quiet and polite.

"Oh, well you're in luck then." The vulpine breathed out between a smile, patting the kits head, causing his ears to flop around a bit.

"Can I have a celery dog?" Joey asked, a paw raised.

" _Can I have a celery dog_?" Charlie mimicked, doing the worst impression of his brother he could manage.

.

.

.

"I'm serious, can I?"

Nick rolled his eyes before nodding with a grin; only then turning his attention over to the sister amongst them.

"And what can I get for you darlin?" he asked her.

"Can I have a salad?" she asked.

Boring, but inexpensive; he wasn't going to argue with her. He approached the stand.

"Alright, I think I've got our orders 'in order', right guys?" the fox said to the stand owner, sparing a glance down at the rabbits huddled together at his feet.

The rabbit running the spot looked at the fox and then at the rabbits surrounding him. Suspicion laced his eyes, but he didn't say anything.

"What can I get you then?" he asked.

"Let's see, a number one with a side of carrot fries, two number fours, a number five and..." his eyes scanned the menu again, unsure of what to get for himself. "I think I'll try a number nine, the apple fritter?"

The stand owner nodded in silence as he scribbled the order down onto a notepad. His gaze darted between the fox and the bunnies as he loaded up the tray with their meals.

"I've got to ask, are these your kits sir?" the server asked.

"Of course, birthed 'em myself." Nick explained, taking the tray from the rabbit's paws.

"Come along kids, let's find a place to sit down and relax."

The rabbits followed him like a chick would follow a mother hen, shuffling along the dirt path in a single file line, impressively uniform when one takes into account the absolute shit show the earlier events of the day had turned out to be. Eventually, they came to a full stop in front in front of a nearby bench.

"Carrot fries, and a lettuce burger…" he said, handing Edmund his food.

"Two celery dogs, one for each of you…" he counted off, handing the faux-food to a smiling Charlie and Joey.

"And last but certainly not least: a salad." he said with a bow, handing the vegetable platter to Claire.

"Bon appétit!"

…

Things were quiet, and it was nice. For once. Everyone ate their meals and not a single course word was shared amongst the four of them. It was a picturesque moment, a fox eating with four little bunnies. Nothing could ruin this.

"So," Joey said, munching on a piece of celery, "are you and Judy boyfriend and girlfriend?"

I take that back.

Recovering from almost choking on his fritter, Nick took a moment to search for the right words.

"No."

Yeah, that was the right word. Simple and to the point, if not a little too obvious. Happy to have averted that crisis, Nick took up another fritter and prepared to continue his meal.

"That's weird, Judy seems to think you are." Charlie explained.

"She what?" the fox barked, dropping the treat back onto his plate.

"She treats you like Ma treats Pa," Joey picked up, "You guys are always teasing each other. Bunnies don't just tease bunnies like that unless they're family or mates. That's just the way it goes." He continued, speaking as if what he had just said was a common fact of life.

"Well, I ain't no bunny…"

"That's for sure…" Claire chimed in.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Nick exclaimed.

"But why does she stare at him like that when he isn't looking then?" Charlie asked, raising a question which was apparently on the rest of their minds.

"She does what!?"

"Bug sis Judy lub bug fuch, _duh_!" Edmund explained, hammering a tiny fist into his other paw for emphasis.

"Huh? _Can somebody explain to me what's going on!_?" the tod cried.

"Yeah, I think we can all agree on that, but he says they aren't in love." Claire reasoned, her paw holding her chin up thoughtfully.

"So she likes him but he doesn't like her back?" Charlie asked, worried.

"It's not like that…" Nick tried to explain.

"Mister Nick, you aren't going to break our sis' heart, are you?" Joey questioned, turning to face the fox again.

"I-"

Their eyes settled on him, again, and he stared back unable to find the right words to say to them, again.

"Look kids, I'm glad you want the best for your sister, I do too, but we're just good friends." He explained, "That _is_ a funny thought though, a rabbit like her falling for a fox like me…"

They continued to stare into his soul.

"Just a funny thought though; nothing more, nothing less, alright?"

…

"So, a fox huh?" Trisha asked as she stretched her arms out wide in attempt at attaching the orange and yellow lights to the awning of the deck.

"Huh?" Judy replied, helping hang the other end. "Who, Nick? Yeah, that is indeed what he is, a fox."

Her sister laughed aloud, nearly falling off the chair she was standing on.

"Yeah, that he is" she replied. "Didn't think you'd be that type of gal, but I don't judge."

Judy's share of the chord of lightbulbs dropped to the floor, thankfully avoiding any shattering.

"Type of gal?" Judy asked, earning further giggling from her sister as she crouched to pick the chord back up.

"Don't worry Jay, Maddie used to chase the preds around all the time back when she was a young doe too, so it's not unheard of."

"Trish, I think there has been a terrible misunderstanding."

Her sister hopped off the chair with another chortle, as at this rate she was sure to tip over from laughing too hard.

"Are you kidding, with the way you toured him around the house… Why, I'm surprised you didn't ask him to move back home with you!"

"I was being friendly! He's helping me out, the least I could do was bring him inside."

"I smell it all over you Jude, you ain't fooling me, and you ain't fooling the rest of us." The doe said. "I'll be right back, need more lights. Say, do you think we've got any Jack-o-Lanterns carved yet?" she continued, picking up a box to carry back into the house.

"Really Trish, it's not what you think!"

"Spare me, Jude the dude."

…

"Alright guys, here's the plan." The fox said, kneeling in front of his posse of bunnies outside the latest store they've passed by. "You're going to need to trust me on this one."

The four siblings exchanged cautious glances before returning their collective gaze onto the fox, each of them replying with a stern nod.

"You all are going to close your eyes and take my paw. From there, I'll lead us through the doors and into the shop. That way, you'll be in before you know it!" Nick explained. " _Then_ you'll see that there's nothing to be afraid of."

Edmund swallowed hard, Joey seemed to be sweating.

"So, what say you? Are you ready to undergo this heroic mission?" the vulpine asked, holding his paw out to them.

.

.

.

One by one, the rabbits took his paw and placed their trust in it. Closing their eyes, they followed him to what may very well be their doom.

"Alright, you can open 'em."

The shop smelled like an old book and a thin layer of dust coated most of the shelves. The ceiling fan creaked as it made its slow rotations. A single fly buzzed incessantly around the lamp set on the table by the cashier.

"Why is it so…" Joey started.

"Crappy?" Charlie finished.

" _Charlie! That's a bad word_!" Claire gasped.

"There's no pleasing you kits, you know that?" the fox explained.

Walking a little further into the shop, he decided to have a look around.

Nobody was here aside from a gaunt, sharply dressed mother rabbit stood in the middle of the children's aisle, picking through the various Halloween costumes.

"Well, go ahead and take a look around"

The bunnies dispersed amidst the aisles, looking through the displays with "Ooos" and "Ahs", occasionally resorting to the rarely used "Oh, wow!".

The children momentarily occupied, Nick decided to browse. There were plenty of adult sized costumes left, but they were all fitted to rabbit proportions. On the cardboard display for a vampire costume stood a rabbit in full "Ratula" garb, straight out of Ram Stoker's classic monster novel. He looked remarkably similar to Judy's father. Maybe he was a costume model on the side when he wasn't farming?

Turning the corner, he found the prop aisle. Plastic tombstones reading: "RIP" were haphazardly tossed onto the shelves. Signs reading "Trespassers beware!" spilled out onto the floor beneath his feat. A display case bore a tiny red button on the front with text reading "Push me if you dare", and if you dared, a pale reptilian hand would pop out of the case on display and touch your paw.

Creepy.

Reptiles always squicked the fox out, and he would often go to bed at night thanking his lucky stars that they didn't actually exist.

One item in particular caught his eye, however, and not for reasons one might expect. The prop was a fox skull, typical in bunny burrow. That wasn't what attracted his attention. The stand on which the skull sat bore a red button of its own, the text above it reading: "Skull of the Love Doctor! Press to have your love fortune read!"

 _Stupid._

His eyes darted left then right before he pressed the crimson button.

Nothing interesting happened.

Figures.

"I found it! Mister Nick, _I found it_!"

Nick quickly took a step away from the skull, the sound of Charlie's voice nearly giving him heart palpitations. He divided his attention back to the reptile hand.

"I found it!" the bruiser repeated.

"Oh?" Nick said, turning to see just what it was that he found. " _Oh?"_

In his hot little paws, he clutched his costume proudly, holding it up with a smile beaming on his face.

A teacher's uniform?

"You sure this is… what you want?" Nick questioned.

"Yeah! I always wanted to be a teacher! I thought I should at least get in some practice as one. Do you think that's a bad idea?" he asked, his smile waning.

"No, that's a great Idea!"

Teacher huh? Never would have guessed it.

"Ok, so where do I put it?" the bun asked.

"Just hold onto it for now." The tod replied, turning back around.

The chubby bunny approached him tentatively; and shrugging his shoulders, hung it around the fox's tail. Yeah, that looks like a good spot for that.

"Fuch!" Edmunds voice cried out from across the store.

"Fuch!"

"Coming, I'm coming!" Nick called out, making his way over to the source of the cry.

"Hank you." Edmund said, pointing at the super bunny costume.

"You want this one?" Nick asked, pointing at the last one on the rack.

"Ye, hank you."

The fashionable rabbit from before began strolling down their aisle.

"You know, we usually say 'thank you' after I do something for you, not before." Nick explained to the tyke.

"He doesn't get that yet. He just knows that thank you gets said at some point and he gets what he wants." Claire explained, paws on her hips.

"Excuse me" the stylish mother said, pushing her way between the group to get to the super bunny costume. Without hesitation, she plucked it off the rack and began making her way down the aisle, leaving the jaws of the fox, and each and every one of the bunny kits, dropped in her wake.

Edmund looked up at the fox, his mouth still gaping out of shock.

"Uh, hold on." Nick said, jogging to catch up to the lady rabbit.

…

"Why, hello Ma'am!" he greeted with a wave so wide he showed off his arm pit, his smile gleaming despite the poor lighting inside the dusty old store.

She looked him over from head to toe and then toe to head twice.

"What do you want?" she asked with a scowl.

"I just couldn't let you walk away without complimenting you on how well dressed you are." He explained as he gestured towards the assorted jewelry that bedazzled her outfit.

Her smug scowl was replaced by an even smugger grin.

"Yes, well I do-"

"If only you had the fashion sense to match it!" he continued.

"I _what_!?"

"Well, look! Here you are with that silly super bunny costume. Sure, those rags might make a good costume for the child of some commoner such as myself," he gestured inward at himself, "but I would expect someone as chic as you to dress their kids a bit better." He reasoned.

"I, well… I was planning on donating it! Yes, that is just what I do, I make donations, but now that you mention it, perhaps I shouldn't be buying such things. The children deserve so much better, poor or not" she said, tossing the costume on the floor before walking away in a hurry.

Nick picked the "rags" up off the floor and gave them a gentle pat down in an effort to knock the dust away.

O mother rabbit, you do indeed have impeccable fashion sense, it's such a shame to see you've got no brains to accompany it!

…

"One super bunny costume." Nick said, bowing to Edmund as he handed it over. "Don't drop it!" he cautioned with a sly wink before turning around to take a look at the props again.

Edmund looked around for somewhere to put the costume, anywhere that didn't require him to hold it. Charlie pointed at the teachers costume currently hung around the fox's tail. Why hadn't he thought of that before?

"Hey!" Nick said, spinning around to catch the little devil in the act. "What do you think you're doing? Just hold the damn thing!"

"Don't say the D word!" Claire shouted.

"The darn thing!"

He caught the oldest of the kits, Joey, out of the corner of his eye.

" _Hold these_!" Nick whispered, venom lacing his voice as he handed the costumes back to Charlie and Edmund.

That being settled, he gingerly walked over to meet Joey. The kit stared wide eyed at a police costume, made for a rabbit his exact size.

Well shoot, you'd never see that in a bunny costume shop a few years ago.

"Well look at you bud, aspiring to be just like your big sis?" Nick asked, a gentle smile sat smug on his mug.

Joey turned to face him slowly.

"N- No," he explained bashfully, "I wanna be like you, Mister Nick."

 _Woah there._

"Like who?" the fox asked.

"You."

"Me?" he asked again, just for clarification

"Yes, you." The softie assured him.

"Sorry…" Nick started. "Can you say that one more time?"

"I wanna be like you." Joey said, confirming his suspicion.

"You wanna be like me!" the fox said, trying to resist the urge to hop up and down.

"I wanna be like you!" the kit said, riding off the adult's obvious excitement.

"Ok, ok, ok…" Nick said, plucking the uniform off the rack and placing it in Joey's paws. "That leaves…"

He spun around on his heels again, trying to locate the last member of the posse.

"You!" he said, pointing at Claire. "Got any ideas, sweet heart?"

"I hate everything here."

The fox's ears flattened against his skull.

"Gee, hate is a really strong word, don't you think?"

"Sorry…" she mumbled. "They just don't have what I want."

"Well, what do you want?" he asked. "We've got fairies, princesses, fairy princesses-"

"I wanna be a race car."

"You want to be a what?"

"A race car." She stated again, plain and simple.

He slowly brought his paws to his face, wiping them down his long muzzle. Half way between his eyes and his nose, he began giggling profusely.

"Well, why didn't you just say so? I think I have an idea, but we'll have to go home first."

 _Oh shit, what did he just do?_

He watched as they huddled together to discuss something, waiting for the impending shit storm to strike again. How could he have been so foolish? The poor things hardly ever get out, who is he to cut their time short? He'll have to make it up to them someho-

"Yeah, let's go home." Claire stated.

"Yeah." Joey agreed.

"I'm tired…" Charlie announced.

"Am hungy!" Edmund added.

"We just ate!" the three others replied in unison.

 _Huh_

This was _really easy_. Who ever said Nicholas Wilde wouldn't be any good with kits? Spend a few hours with em, you've spent a year with em. He would make a _damn_ good father.

…

 _Ah, gotta rush these things out in time for Halloween! Excuse me as I scream into my pillow because I have so many things to do. Who assigns this much work right before the spookiest season of them all?_

 _Thanks for the read. Leave a review/comment if you feel up to it, every single one means the world to me._

 _I'm serious, reader interaction has quickly become my only sustenance._

 _Till next time, goodbye my friends!_


	3. As Oblivious as Blueberries are Sweet

_In which Judy actually appears in more than one scene!_

…

Victorious, the band of bunnies – and one fox – finally arrive in sight of the Hopps family house, costumes in tow.

" _Well I'll be_." Trisha gasped, taking a break from hammering paper ghosts with silly faces to the fence lining the porch. "He actually did it."

"Gotta hand it to him, the guys good at getting out of sticky situations" Judy agreed, unravelling another length of chord, purple bulbs strewn across its length.

"He didn't just get out of it, he tamed the savage beast!" her sister replied, brushing her ears flat against her head so as to put her sun hat back on.

"Guess so…"

"Good with kids, that guy…" Trisha continued, nudging the hero cop.

Judy gave the doe a gentle shove.

"Would you-"

"Hey, he's coming over here. I think I forgot something inside, but you should congratulate him on a job well done, don't you think?"

Judy rolled her eyes, going back to work at unravelling chords.

…

"Edmund, get your costume out of the dirt!" Nick berated the bunny.

Edmund gave him a blank stare, continuing to drag the superbunny costume along the ground behind him. This is, of course, the way to carry the darn thing with the least amount of effort after all. If anything, the fox should be praising him for his innovation.

Nick shook his head gently, turning to acknowledge Judy with a wave as she worked on something in front of the house. She rose her paw in the air meekly, returning the gesture before continuing about her business.

"I think you should marry her." The chubbiest bunny amongst them mused aloud.

Nick stopped in his tracks, turning to look down at the rabbit with a malevolent glare.

"Now why did you have to go ahead and say that?" he asked.

"Well, listen. If you marry her, then you will be like our new big brother and we can play together all the time!" Charlie continued.

With reasoning like that, who can stay mad at him? The fox brushed the rabbit's ears back gently and patted him on his fluffy little head before continuing on his way, leaving the rabbit stunned. With a hop and a skip he waddled after his vulpine friend.

"Wait, you would like that, wouldn't you Mister Nick? You like being with us, right?" he asked.

Nick turned to him again.

 _Yes, yes he did._

"You guys are… pretty cool…" the fox said, trying his best to remain aloof. "But you're making things awkward between her and I."

"Hey…" Judy said, nearer than he had expected her to be.

He hadn't realized they had gotten that close to the house.

"H-hey!" he stammered, raising his paw to wave again before remembering that he already had, and doing so again would be redundant.

And unnecessarily awkward.

"Uh, we need to put our costumes away, c'mon guys." Joey insisted, taking Claire's paw before walking towards the door, Charlie not far behind.

Edmund stopped for a moment to stare at Nick and Judy as they stood across from one another. In spite of the obvious tension between them, a smile slowly crept onto the tykes face, leading him to let out a chirp and a giggle before skipping off into the house, joining his siblings.

Judy rubbed her arm, watching as the strange rabbit left the two mammals to themselves.

"So uh, nice job today…" she complimented sluggishly, shielding her eyes from the sun as it reached its peak in the sky for the day.

 _Oh god, she's acting strange; did he do something wrong? How could he have? He's been out for the last few hours!_

"Yeah it wasn't too bad…" he replied, equally drowsy.

 _Oh god, he's acting strange; did she do something wrong? How could she have? The guy has been out for the last few hours!_

"So, are these the decorations you were talking about?" he asked, waving his arms in a wide arc, gesturing towards the lights, silly ghosts and faux cob webs currently strewn across the face of the house.

"Yup."

.

.

.

"They're kinda shitty, don't you think?" he asked. Placing a paw on his hip.

Judy curled her own paw into a fist, almost giving into the urge to strike him

 _Almost._

Seeing her struggle to resist the temptation to clobber him brought the smile back to his dopey mug. He wasn't in the fox house yet.

And how could he be anyways? It's not like they were at all romantically involved. Nothing of the sort. Furthest thing from the truth, in fact. Hell, if she kissed him – not that he ever put much thought into such frivolities – why, he would-

"So, how could we improve them?"

"Huh?" the fox replied, his consciousness swimming back into reality.

"You said the props were shitty, what can we do about it?"

"Oh, well… Um…." He pointed at a paper ghost, its tongue sticking out for comedic affect. "I guess you can't. They're too stupid. It's beyond salvaging."

"Hmm…" the rabbit scoffed, leaning against the deck support column as she looked him in the eye. "Guess I'll need to drag you a long a little earlier next year. Maybe you could show us how it's done?"

From behind them, through the window pane, a loud knocking reverberated in their direction, prompting the duo to look in its direction.

Trisha had the curtain pulled back, giving Judy a firm thumbs up, for some reason. The kits stood beside her, climbing over one another in an attempt to get a better view of the scene unfolding outside. Judy scowled at the group, turning back to face Nick again; the fox looking at her in turn, his ears slicked back against his head bashfully.

"Haha…" the fox chuckled. "Wonder what that's all about…"

"Yeah, who knoooows…" the doe replied in a shaky sing-song voice. "They're a weird bunch, I'm telling you that…"

"Yeah, I know that much…"

.

.

.

"Well, pick up a box of decorations and get to work!" the doe said, returning to her task of unraveling chords.

"Huh?"

"The day is still young!"

The fox rolled his eyes, but smiled just the same. They probably could use his help. Bunnies are an absolute mess, after all.

…

"Dumb." The fox deemed the Papier-mâché rabbit skeleton, poised as if it was ready to break out into a bone rattling jive at any moment. He set it down in the grass beside him.

"Wow, even dumber." He judged, tossing the knitted Jack-O-Lantern behind himself.

"Hoo boy, do I even need to say it?" Nick asked, unfolding the poorly made garland of bats molded out of tissue paper.

"Nick, our _great-grandmother_ made those _years ago_." Judy admonished, arranging the fallen leaves in patterns more pleasing to the eye with a little help from Claire.

"So, do you want to use them?" the fox asked, handing the bat garland to his partner.

"Not really, they're kind old." The doe said, examining the antique in her paws.

"And ugly." Charlie added.

Nick continued to rummage through the pile of decorations they had amassed on the front lawn.

"Hey, this is pretty neat!" He exclaimed, genuinely impressed. The fox held up a makeshift Witch's broom made with sticks and twine.

"Woah, not bad." Judy said, nodding as she did so. "Wait!" she gasped, running over to join Nick by the pile of decorations. She tiptoed around the props scattered haphazardly across the floor.

" _Here it is_!" she exclaimed, holding up a prize of her own. "Broom parking, Hour only. Violators will be toad!" she cried, reading the sign she currently held in her paws. "Get it? Toad! Like towed, but toad because witch's turn trespassers into toads!"

"Itch tun em in _what_!?" Edmund exclaimed, a mix of shock and confusion on his face.

"Toads!" Judy replied with an uproarious giggle before turning back to the fox. "Do you get it Nick?"

He tried to keep a straight face; and he failed miserably, instead turning to the act of looking down at his feet in the hopes that she won't notice his dopey grin.

"Remember what I told you earlier, about not being a dork?"

"Can it scruff!" she teased back. "And gimme that!" she said, snatching the broom from his paws.

"Hey!" the fox cried. " _I_ found it, so _I_ get to decide where it goes."

" _What!?_ " she called back at him, matching his tone. "Over my dead body!"

"You said it, not me!" the fox exclaimed before flashing his teeth and raising his arms up.

Judy cried out in feigned distress before turning around and hopping away, the fox quickly giving chase after the giggly rabbit. She turned sharply as she held the broom in her paws, scampering to and fro as she tried to shake the fox. He hunted her on all fours, bounding after his prey in great strides. With some effort on his part, he got close enough to grab her by the tail; deciding against it in fear of hurting the bunny.

…

"Nick's a gosh darn liar..." Charlie said, watching as the pair played together out on the lawn.

"Charlie! You know we aren't supposed to say gosh darn!" his sister scolded, clearly upset that her brother is using such horrible language.

"Claire's right Charlie…" Trisha said, sitting down beside the kits, watching the couple all the same. "What do you mean by 'Nick's a liar' though?"

"He told us when he bought us lunch today that he doesn't want to be Judy's boyfriend!" Joey explained.

.

.

.

"Charlie's right Claire…"

…

The fox collapsed on the ground, the rabbit still running circles around him. Recognizing that the chase was over, she approached her playmate and dropped the broom, flopping down onto her side next to him, her chin sat snug in his lap. Together, the animals panted, trying to catch their breath.

You know…I…haven't seen your… other siblings around…" The fox wondered aloud, still winded from the chase.

"The groups that haven't found their costumes yet are still out. You got back pretty quickly." The doe replied, leaning into his paws as he stroked her soft, fuzzy head.

"Huh…"

"So…have we got…anything…to decorate the inside…of the house with?" The fox asked in between breaths.

"We do!" Judy said, nuzzling further into his lap.

"Goodie…" he replied, playing with her ears.

…

"So, since the chief gave us tomorrow off, are you planning on staying to help out tomorrow?" the rabbit asked, walking with a bundle of tinsel spiders in her arms.

"I might, if you ask nicely." The fox replied, smoothing out his shirt.

"Will you stay, please?" Judy said, pointing up towards the porch awning as she spoke.

"Sure Judy, I would be happy to spend more time with your insane family!" he said, raising his foot, allowing her to step up onto it. He held his paw out to her so that she could keep her balance as she leaped up onto his shoulder; from there hopping up onto his snout and finally crawling onto the roof.

" _Great."_ She said as she leaned over the side, soon disappearing so as to place the tinsel spiders in position.

"Call me a saint, good ol' saint Nick." The fox said, reaching his arms out to the bunny, ready to catch her whenever she decided to leap at him.

And she did.

And he caught her.

"Why don't I call you a dumb fox and be done with it?" she asked as he set her back onto the ground.

"No, that doesn't _quite_ have the same ring to it."

"Hmm…" she hummed, a finger to her mouth. "Dumb fo-"

"Nicky!" a voice cried from the truck pulling up in the drive way.

 _Oh dear…_

 _"_ Nicky, it's _so good_ to see you!" Bonnie, Judy's mother, said as she hopped from her vehicle and ran over to him, grasping the fox in a tight bunny hug.

"Good to see you mom!" Judy said with a wave of her paw and a roll of her eyes as she kicked a dirt clod beneath her feet.

"Hello to you too dearie!"

"Hi Mrs. Hopps!" the vulpine choked out, struggling to breath as the mother rabbit did everything within her power to choke the life from his lithe body.

"Look at you, _son_ , you're so skinny!" she cooed, squeezing him a little tighter. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Mister Nick took us out to eat an hour ago." Joey spoke up.

Bonnie finally relinquished her hold on the fox, only to shoot her son a death glare, paws on her hips.

"We can, uh, we can eat again!" Nick assured her, turning to Judy as if to ask her if she was hungry. The doe nodded furiously.

"Great!"

…

"You know, I just can't turn down any dish your mother whips up for us" the fox said as he sat down at the table across from the four kits they had been assigned, blueberry salad in paw. "Though I'd be a _hare_ nervous about turning her down anyways!"

"Hardee Har…" Judy said, taking her seat next to the fox.

"Uh…" Claire stammered, raising her paw.

"Yes?" the eldest sister asked.

"I don't get it."

"Your uncle Nick is just being-" she stopped herself mid-sentence.

The fox dropped his fork in the grass.

"Uh…" he said, looking at the utensil before raising his gaze and locking eyes with Judy again.

"I'll just, eat with my paws… No biggie..." he said, picking the fork up and setting it aside.

"Right, mhm." The doe replied, clearing her throat before sipping on her carrot juice.

And then hell opens up again.

All eyes dart to Joey and Charlie; who, despite looking civil a moment ago, now look to be close to blows. Joey's apple and lettuce sandwich dangled precariously in Charlie's paw, likely the reason Joey is now trying to kill his brother.

"Charlie, be good!" Claire shouted, pulling the sleeves of her onesie tighter around her paws in fright.

"Ya!" Edmund shouted, pushing Charlie.

"Woah there!" Judy said, reaching across the table to snatch the sandwich away before it winds up on the floor.

"Joey, Charlie" Nick said, demanding their attention.

The kits heads immediately snapped in his direction.

"Chill, ok?"

Joey returned his paws to his lap, and so is sandwich was returned to him. Charlie promised not to take the sandwich again, so Edmund promised not to shove him anymore.

" _Huh…_ "Judy hummed aloud, nudging the fox sitting next to her. "Not bad, _Slick_."

"Shoot, _tell me something I don't know_." he whispered back.

The group worked on their meals, enjoying their time in the sun as it slowly travelled across the sky, painting the atmosphere with orange and pinkish hues. A cool breeze picked up; reminding the mammals that fall is, indeed, here.

"Mister Nick?" Charlie asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" the fox responded, looking up from his salad.

"Can I have a blueberry?"

Nick looked down at his dish again and smiled, plucking a berry from amongst the leaves.

"Sure thing bud." He said with a grin, leaning across the table to place it in the kits open mouth.

"Nyooom!" The fox cried, wrapping his arm back around, placing the treat into his own open maw.

"What!" the bruiser whined. "No fair!"

Nick chuckled, grabbing a pawful of berries from his plate before handing them over to the kit, satisfying him. Judy rolled her eyes at the deceitful tod, but smiled just the same.

"So, you glad I dragged you out of your house?" the rabbit sitting beside him asked, nudging her shoulder against his side.

"I've had worse days out, I'll give you that, carrots." He said, smiling warmly at her.

" _My_ , that is high praise coming from you." she mused jokingly. "Maybe I should do this more often…"

"Hmm, I don't know about that, I think once or twice a year might be reasonable," He said with a snicker. "I mean, Christmas time is just around the cor-"

His paw fumbled around on his plate for a moment.

 _Aw, out of blueberries._

"Here mister Nick, you can have my last berry." Joey said, reaching across the table to hand it to the hungry vulpine.

The fox held out his paw

"Aw, thanks kid that's really too kind of you-"

"Nyoom!" the rabbit repeated, retracting his paw – and the sweet treat enclosed in it – at the last second, only to eat it himself.

Nick's eyes widened in shock, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor. Absolutely flabbergasted, he turned to the rabbit sitting beside him.

"Sorry slick. When other's mimic you, you've just got to grin and bear it." The doe replied, a smug grin laced with satisfaction forming in the corners of her muzzle.

…

"Alright officers, listen up!" the fox shouted, pacing back and forth in front of Judy and Joey as if he were some sort of drill sergeant.

"As you know, Claire wants to be a race car for Halloween."

"She wants to be a what?" Judy asked, an eyebrow raised.

"That's what I said!" Nick exclaimed, dropping the sergeant act before quickly picking it up again.

He cleared his throat.

"So, we're going to make that dream come true!" he exclaimed, stomping his foot into the grass below them.

Joey clapped excitedly, hopping from one foot to the other, his sister standing there with an eyebrow still raised and a paw on her hip.

"Alright, I'm game. What have you got in mind foxy?" she asked.

"Oh…" Nick choked, halting his pacing. "I was kinda hoping you would be able to come up with that part."

.

.

.

"We've got cardboard boxes in the pantry?" Joey suggested.

"Amazing Idea officer Hopps!" the fox cried. "That's Joey Hopps, not you Judy."

The doe rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest.

"No respect…" she moaned.

"I think I'll promote you to Lieutenant Hopps. Once again, Joey, not you Judy. You're too dorky to be a lieutenant; sorry carrots."

"Don't I know it…"

Despite his sister appearing downright unimpressed by Nick's skills as a police chief/ drill instructor, Joey was absolutely ecstatic about his recent promotion. At this rate, he may just be police chief in a few years!

"Alright officers, lets 'hopp' to it! To the pantry we away!" the police chief/ drill instructor proclaimed, a finger pointed towards the house.

…

"I was thinking we could use the red paint from my science fair project to uhhh… paint it red." Joey explained, dragging the paint can and brush outside with them as the set the cardboard in the grass.

Nick closed his eyes and nodded thoughtfully, a clawed thumb to his chin.

"Excellent thinking lieutenant." He affirmed, "but just how are we going to get it to stay on her? We can't very well expect her to hold the box up as she trick or treats! Her paws will likely be busy carrying all the bags of candy this costume will undoubtedly get… Curses!" he bellowed dramatically.

The rabbit kit raised his paw in the air frantically, trying to get the fox's attention.

"What is it lieutenant, have you got an idea?" the vulpine asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, maybe we could just use the straps from my kindergarten backpack? I don't need it anymore and it would probably fit her. We just need to cut them off and stick them to the box somehow. I don't know how to do that part though." The kit explained, making hand gestures to illustrate his ideas as he did so.

"Don't you worry about that part lieutenant, I'll figure it out. Great work though!" he exclaimed, raising his paw so that the little bunny could give him a high five. "Take notes, Officer Judy, you're gonna need them."

The doe's face was somewhere between an incredulous grin and a scowl, reveling in the absurdity of the situation.

The fox looked down at the supplies they had accrued so far and bit his thumb, mulling ideas over in his head.

"That brings me to our last obstacle…"

The two bunnies waited for his next words with bated breath.

"Now, I don't expect you to figure this one out straight away, but the sooner we start spit ballin the better…" he said, keeping the rabbits waiting in anticipation.

"How do we…"

Yes?

"make…"

 _Yes?_

 _"the wheels?"_

Judy's paw shot up, quickly followed by Joey's.

"Yes, Lieutenant Joey?"

"Why don't we just use more cardboard?"

"Ah!" Judy moaned, her paw falling to her sides in resignation.

The vulpine stood there on the grass, and the world seemed to stop turning. Everything appeared to move in slow motion. The universe suddenly made sense.

Slowly, and with great deliberation, Nick initiated a slow clap, eventually gesturing at Judy, urging her to join him.

"You know what, I think we all know who is _truly_ deserving of the title "Chief of Police" around these parts." He began, motioning to end the clapping. "From this day forward, I relinquish my position to Joey Hopps-" Nick proclaimed, taking a knee before the bunny. "Or should I say: Chief Hopps!"

The rabbit kit stood there astonished. His features slowly rose to meet the burning, infectious smile that grew on his face. The bunny's entire complexion beamed with pride.

"The 'not Judy though' was implied by the way." The fox said, turning to his partner.

"Yeah, I got that." Judy affirmed, giving the playful tod a thumbs up.

"I believe that under Chief Hopps' supervision, we can have this costume built in the hour!"

"Yeah!" the rabbits shouted in agreement.

"So let's 'hopp' to it!"

The doe's guttural groan was heard for miles that day.

…

"And I organized the entire thing!" Joey said, his paws still covering his sister's eyes as he led her to the front lawn.

"Wow!" Claire cooed, trying her hardest not to trip on all the decorations Joey failed to warn her about.

"Almost there, just a few more steps…" he assured her.

"Ok good, cause I need to go to the bathroom so we need to hurry.

Joey quickened his pace.

"Alright, you can let her open her eyes now kid!" Nick's voice called out, and the paw blindfold came off.

Before her sat the _sweetest_ hot rod in all of Bunnyburrow – Nick had checked – its make expertly crafted by a fox and two rabbits – one rabbit being a small child, but that's beside the point – with a fine crimson finish. Across both the left and right sides a striking, _electric_ yellow number "1" was painted, effectively letting any other car or truck that happened across them in the burrows from here on out know who top bun was. The seat belts were made from the finest material, a toddlers back pack, and through some clever fox's handiwork they were worked through small holes cut in the cardboard and tied to prevent falling out. Such work may seem excessive, but the makers of this fine automobile value security first. The inky black wheels had exquisitely painted rims, at least as exquisite as one can hope to paint on cardboard. In conglomerate, the features amounted to a slick new ride fit only for the baddest of the buns.

Upon seeing this, Claire broke down into tears, pulling the trio of mammals who made it all possible as close to herself as she could get them.

"Thank you so much!" she sobbed into Nick's pant leg. "I was scared I would never be a race car!"

Nick patted her noggin gently, looking up at his partner.

He shook his own head as he smiled at her, staring deep into her eyes.

"Well, it's been said that anybody can be anything."

"Has it now?" Judy asked playfully, patting the sobbing bunny, staring back at her partner.

"Just might have been…"

"Nicholas!" a familiar voice called.

The group hug was split apart, allowing the fox to turn to its source.

"You didn't go and make my daughter cry, did ya?" Stu said, patting the dirt off of his overalls and then off of his paws before extending one towards the fox.

"I'm afraid I'm guilty as charged sir." Nick said, taking the paw in his own.

"Dad, where've you been?" Judy asked.

"Out tending the fields, I totally forgot that Nick was coming by to help out today; sorry about that _son_!"

"Oh, don't you worry about that-"

"No no, I've got to make up for lost time!" he said, excited.

Charlie and Edmund joined the group, looking up at their father.

"We can catch up as we carve the pumpkins." Stu explained, picking flecks of dirt from his dusty paws. "The rest of your siblings are already out at the stands." He said, looking down at the kits.

"I'm not sure I can just intrude on your family traditions-"

"Oh hush it fox, you are family! Come along with me…" the Hopps patriarch commanded, wrapping an arm around the vulpine's shoulder.

Nick turned to look back at Judy as she followed behind.

A smile and a thumbs up was all she had to offer.

…

 _Sheesh, these daily uploads are killer. Nothing much to be said for now, but I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. You know the spiel by now, drop me a comment if you feel so inclined; and thank you so much for reading!_


	4. That Spark of Realization in a Dream

_Opening Author's Note: Today marks the fourth day since I took a break from writing angst and I'm beginning to have withdrawals._

…

The kits ran, skipped and hopped along the path as quickly as they could, zigzagging every which way in front of the fox as he walked, Mr. Hopp's arm securely wrapped around his shoulder. He almost took to wondering just why it was that Judy's parents were so keen on latching onto him, but the thought was quickly snuffed out by the sight of the sun setting in the distance.

Bunnyburrow could be the pits sometimes; but the sunsets here were never anything short of breathtaking. Out here, with hardly any artificial light around to pollute the atmosphere, the weary sun was allowed to ooze its orange swan song across the sky.

It was pretty neat, all things considered.

Judy used to tell him about nights like these; where her entire family would meet in the farm's pumpkin patch to carve jack-o'-lanterns. At first it seemed like a bizarre tradition to have. Growing up, he would crowd around the kitchen table with his father and mother once they got home from work, at which point they would frantically carve the obligatory pumpkin and then wash up so that they could catch the seasonal horror movie specials that would come on around that time of year.

After spending the entire day with the crazy rabbits, however, he realized that such an extravagant event might not be that bizarre after all.

As they neared the hill that overlooked the pumpkin patch, it became readily apparent that they were a bit late to the party. Frantic cries echoed throughout the air. Rabbits tittered to one another about the events of the day, the older folk tried to quell the rowdy youngsters, and – surprisingly enough – siblings bickered.

Was it weird that the fox almost felt at home here?

Atop the hill sat a table, and on that table sat a massive collection of pumpkins, all of them ranging in shape and size, weight and coloration.

"Alrighty, I reckon you all know the rules by now…" Stu began, drawing his arm from the fox's shoulders. "Pick whichever one you'd like, but you gotta carry it over to the table. I ain't hauling no more pumpkins 'round today." He explained begrudgingly, taking his hat off his head so as to smooth it out.

Nick took his time walking over to the table, letting the eager kits run out in front of him first. He smiled as they crawled over one another, trying their hardest to reach the pumpkins they each had their eyes on.

They'd point, and he'd pluck it off the table and lower it into their eagerly awaiting paws. Edmund had a little bit of trouble carrying his own at first, but he muscled through it. Nick himself ran his paw across several pumpkins, not in any rush to commit to a pumpkin just yet.

"Having trouble deciding there, slick?" Judy asked, bumping up against him, a pumpkin of her own clutched between her arms.

" _Pssh_ " the fox spat with a wave of his paw, "I'm anything but indecisive. Just weighing my options, fluff."

"Well, mind if I add one more?" the doe asked.

"One more what?"

Ok, maybe being coy wasn't in her best interest.

"One more _option_." She clarified, bumping him with her hip, which certainly didn't count as hitting him.

"No? There are already plenty of fruits to choose from as it is."

"Can you help me carve this one?"

The fox paused for a moment.

"Why?"

"Because, I want to make your first pumpkin carving day a memorable one." She explained flippantly, her eyes half lidded.

"And you think that working with you would make it memorable?" he questioned, leaning against the table with a smug grin.

"Duh?"

The fox folded his arms.

"I'll have you know, I've been your partner for a cool year now and I don't remember what we did last week on the job."

"Will it make a difference if I told you that I'm terrible when it comes to anything that requires artistic talent and could really use your help?" she inquired quizzically.

The fox stood up straight and walked closer to her, leaning down so that their snouts were nearly touching.

"Oh, so you think that _just because_ you butter me up, I'm going to do all the work for you?" he asked, pressing a paw onto her pumpkin so as to weigh it down. " _I'm_ the only one who can shirk his work around here."

…

Hundreds of little bunnies scribbled on pumpkins with black markers, chatting amongst themselves as they did so. Nick sat next to Judy, his arm around her – for the sake of keeping warm – and his free paw etching his _own_ design into his _own_ pumpkin with an extended claw. His bushy tail wagged excitedly as he worked.

"You see, I use my claw so that when I go to carve later I already have a groove to fit the knife into." he explained, sketching a grimacing eye before starting on its mate.

"Yup, uh huh. I'm taking notes." Judy said with a nod of her head.

Stu sat across from them as he watched the fox's claw dig into the pumpkin, just a tad uncomfortable, not that he'd ever let Nick see that.

Bonnie turned around for a moment, seated at a table a few feet away. She gave the fox an energetic wave before turning back to the task at hand: making sure that the kits don't cut themselves as they sliced into the soon-to-be jack-o'-lanterns.

"So, anyone know any spooky stories?" Stu asked, watching Edmund scribble on the pumpkin sat in front of him.

"I know one!" Charlie exclaimed, setting his marker down.

"Alright! Let's hear it" Nick replied, pumping his paw in the air.

.

.

.

"I forgot it."

.

.

.

"We'll come back to you." Stu consoled.

"What about you, Mister Nick?" Claire asked. "Don't you know any spooky stories?"

The fox bit his lip and thought for a moment.

"I do, but I don't think you could handle them, let's let Judy try."

"Ah, c'mon!" Joey cried, "Judy's terrible at telling scary stories!"

"I'm gonna have Nick eat you tonight…" the doe threatened.

"He _wouldn't"_ Joey insisted.

"Oh, well don't hedge your bets kid…" the fox warned.

.

.

.

"Kidding!"

.

.

.

"Done!"Nick cried triumphantly, slamming his knife back down onto the table. "Take a look at this guy!" he said, twisting his pumpkin around so that the other bunnies could observe his handiwork. Judy snickered at their reactions, almost as though she had expected them.

"It's…" Stu began.

"Scawey!" Edmund finished.

In stark contrast with the playful faces and cute designs on the other pumpkins of the night, the Jack-o'-lantern so finally crafted by the vulpine bore sharp fangs and a menacing scowl.

"Exactly, isn't that what Halloween is all about?"

There was a resounding pause at the table. The rabbits thought about it.

"So, scary is good?" Joey asked.

"Well, at least during this time of the year!"

"Then tell us your story." The soft-spoken rabbit requested.

Nick's eyes dropped. Hustled again by the little schemer.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me tonight if you end up with nightmares."

He paused.

"In fact, wake me up and I may just actually eat you."

* * *

Once upon a time a bunny dressed only in traditional red hood and cloak entered her grandmother's burrow to escape the dark and stormy night closing in on her.

"Good evening dearie!" a shrill, unwelcoming voice cried out to the rabbit as she walked further into the cozy home.

"Grand-mama? Is that you?" the doe asked, creeping into her grandmother's bedroom.

"Yes dearie, come closer!" the figure spoke, writhing in the bed.

"Oh my!" the rabbit cried upon closer examination. "I feared the worst when I got your letter, but I didn't know you were _this_ sick!"

"Yes, yes dearie! I am so very sick, it's rather lame really!" the figure cried, poking its furry head out from under the covers.

"Oh dear, grand-mama! Your ears are short and pointy, just like a fox's ears are short and pointy!" she said.

"Indeed dearie, indeed! With them it is easy to hear your racing heart!" came the reply.

"And your nose, grand-mama! Your nose is wet and black, just like a fox's nose is wet and black!"

"It's true dearie, it's true! With it I can smell your mouthwatering scent!" the figure cried joyously.

"Oh no, but your muzzle grand-mama! Your muzzle is long and your teeth are sharp, just like a fox's muzzle is long and teeth are sharp!" the doe cried, realizing her mistake all too late.

"This is true!" the figure said, stepping out of bed, towering over the little bunny clad in red. "My muzzle is long and my teeth are sharp, just like a fox's muzzle is long and teeth are sharp! All the better to-"

"All the better to-"

"All the better to kiss you with!" the fox cried, taking the rabbit into his waiting paws and smooching her gently on the lips.

* * *

"And then they got married and then the end!" Claire cheered.

"No!" Nick cried, shaking his head. "There's a moral to the story, it goes to show that-"

"Foxes can marry bunnies!" Charlie exclaimed, demonstrating a clear understanding of the fable.

Nick rubbed his temples lightly with open paws, obviously distressed.

"It goes to show that you need to be observant in life, otherwise-"

"Ahm am dun!" Edmund cried triumphantly through plump cheeks, pulling his paw away from his father's, Stu just barely taking the knife away from the tyke before he managed to stick it into something other than a pumpkin.

"Are you now?" Nick asked, paws still firmly pressed to his forehead, let's have a look then, shall we?"

Edmund batted at the pumpkin with his paws, Stu placing his own in front of his sons.

"Alrighty, let pop pop turn it now…" he said, pivoting the fruit so as to reveal the masterful design engraved upon it.

It was a poorly drawn, poorly carved face of a rabbit, its tongue sticking out.

"Wow!" came the cries of adoration from everyone at the table.

"That's amazing!" Judy cheered.

"No kidding, its great!" Nick echoed, nodding in agreement with his partner.

Edmund bounced up and down on his father's lap, cheerfully biting at his own lip, unsure of what to do with all of the sudden praise. Maybe he'll have a career in art one day? Perhaps that is his calling in life. Being Superbunny may just need to be a side gig.

"So, let's see the rest of them then." Nick insisted, frantically waving his paws as if he were the conductor of the Bunnyburrow district symphony, queuing the pivoting of the remaining pumpkins.

Joey's pumpkin bore a well carved Zootopia Police Department Badge. The edges were delicately whittled down, perfectly mimicking the rounded shape of the standard issue crest.

Claire blushed through her soft white fur as she turned her pumpkin, revealing what looked to be the type of helmet a race car driver might wear. The lines were a tad shaky, but everyone loved it just the same.

Finally, eyebrows rose as Charlie turned his pumpkin to the rest of the group.

It was an apple.

"Charlie," Judy began softly, "You hate apples."

"Well, I gotta get used to them." he explained.

"Why's that?" Joey asked, his chin in his open paw.

"Because when I become a teacher that's what my students are going to give me!"

Nick nodded with a chuckle and a smile as he listened to the plump kit explain in detail about all the apples he would be receiving come the time he finally gets around to becoming a teacher.

"Well shoot, your jack-o'-lanterns blow mine out of the water!" The fox cried in defeat.

"Our-" the doe beside him corrected, "- they blow 'our' pumpkin out of the water."

"Pumpkin guts?" Bonnie cried out, "I need your pumpkin guts!"

Nick helped scoop the leftover pumpkin insides into the pot Bonnie was using to collect them.

"What do you need 'em for, bon?"

"Oh, you'll see, _dearie_."

…

Night fell in earnest; and had it not been for the hundreds of candles the rabbits brought with them, the march to reach the top of the burrow would have been nearly impossible. A swarm of bunnies stormed the bulbous mound, carrying pumpkins in one paw, open flames in the other.

Nick picked out the perfect spot, not too far down the hill but not so far up it that you can't see it. Judy handed him the candle; which he carefully placed inside, lighting up the orange interior.

Now _that's_ a jack-o'-lantern.

He took a step back, joining his rabbit companion.

 _Shoot_

 _It does kinda make for a pretty scene._

The burrow, which had been little more than a mound of dirt which housed hundreds of bunnies when the fox first got here, had inexplicably been transformed into a gorgeous candle lit show. The individual fires that burned orange in their pumpkins didn't look like much on their own; but _now_ , now they burn brighter than a forest fire.

He looked to his side, taking the opportunity to stare at his precious partner as she looked over the precious scene, teary eyed.

Somehow it was clear to him now;

It was all worth it.

…

"Absolutely not!" Bonnie shouted at her husband, handing the fox his pumpkin pie, a mound of whipped cream placed gingerly atop the desert.

"C'mon Bon!" the patriarch of the family cried.

Nick sat down on the couch in front of the T.V, soon after joined by Judy and then twenty different rabbit kits, all trying everything within their power to squish the couple closer together. Edmund climbed up into Nick's lap.

"What do you think, NicK?" the matriarch asked, turning to the fox.

He took his fork from his mouth, clicking his tongue as he savored the sweet flavor of his treat.

"I'm gonna have to side with Mr. Hopps on this one, we should let them watch. It's only once a year that these programs air, so I'd say let them live a little." He explained before taking another bite of the pumpkin flavored dessert. "Really good pie though, thank you _so_ much." He continued with his mouth full.

Bonnie took a bite of her own pie and rolled her eyes, thumping her foot against the carpet.

"Fine, just this once though…" she yielded. "And I knew you would like it. Made it extra special this year, just for you."

"Oh you're the best Bon!"

"Shhhh!" several rabbits sprayed, mimicking the sound of a garden hose.

The horror movie has begun.

.

.

.

"This is _so_ _dumb_." Nick whispered in the floppy ear of his partner, the doe snuggled up close to him. "The pig is going to die and she doesn't even see it coming."

"How do you know, have you seen this one before?" Judy asked, eyes glued to the screen.

"No, but I have eyes, don't I?"

"Suppose you do." The rabbit replied, taking a bite of her pie. "But I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"Look at the ground under her feet!" he shouted in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, I see some tracks-"

"You see tracks going into the cabin, but none coming out." He explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, I know who I'm pairing up with should we ever get trapped in a horror movie."

The fox scoffed.

"As if you would even have a choice, I'd never let you off on your own. You'd be gobbled up in no time." He said, pressing his fangs close to her face.

…

"Ok, that was a whole lot better than I had thought it would be." Nick admitted to the bunny leaning against him. The rest of the family was saying their good nights and going off to bed. "Although I'm a sucker for any old monster movie, ya know?" he said, nudging her.

As the last of the rabbits – save for his own – cleared the room, the sound of snoring slowly crawled into an audible level. He lifted her face, and sure enough, she was out cold. In addition, it seems she drooled all over his shirt sleeve when he wasn't paying attention.

Great, now he's going to smell like bunny breath for the rest of the night.

"C'mon" he whispered, picking her up as gently as he could manage. "Tomorrows gonna be a long day, better get your rest on something a bit more comfy."

The second he lifted her off the couch she went into attack mode, kicking him in the stomach repeatedly. Reeling in pain, he held her close; close enough that she didn't have enough room to kick him again, and searched for a clock somewhere in the room, eventually settling on the little digital one right below the television, its green light shining dimly in the otherwise inky black room.

12:06

It's a new day, so technically she has every right to kick him again.

…

"I don't know Bon." Her mate told her, climbing into their shared bed.

"Oh, but I really do hope so Stu…" she cooed, turning her book over and over again in her paws.

"We've done everything we can, it's up to them to make the decision." The husband said, leaning over his wife to grab his reading glasses off of her night stand.

"Yes but, if it isn't him I don't know who! She turns down every buck we introduce to her." The mother said, placing a paw on the father's knee.

"Don't I know it, Honey Bunny." He mused wistfully, "But I also know that it's their decision."

"I just don't want her to be lonely Stu."

"I know Bon, neither do I."

.

.

.

"Would you be ok with it?"

.

.

.

"Had you of asked me a few years ago, I'd of told you no."

.

.

.

"But he's a good mammal."

.

.

.

"And he'd make a damn good son."

…

It's really quiet in this house once all the rabbits go to sleep. A little bit too quiet. Nick flopped down onto the couch, now his and his alone, at least for the night. Staring up at the dark ceiling, he realized that it seemed to span on and on forever.

What had he gotten himself into here?

Whatever it was, it was the best time he's had in recent memory

Yeah.

 _Perfect Enjoyment._

* * *

The skull sat in the palms of his paws, and when he looked down at it, it looked up at him.

He tapped it with an extended claw.

He asked it a question, saying, "So uh, love doctor, _was it_?"

"In the flesh!" the skull bellowed, cackling wildly.

The fox scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up."

Ignoring the rude remark, the fox skull asked the living fox a question of his own, saying, "What advice do you seek?"

"No advice," the fox explained, "but I do have another question."

"Speak up then, I haven't all night with you!"

Composing himself, the fox asked his next question.

"Did you, good doctor, fall to the temptations of love and wind up as you are now?"

"Yeah, should you listen to me tell you something about love?" the skull asked.

"I should." The fox replied.

The skull resumed speaking:

"In love, like many things, you'll find death eventually. Even if you aren't looking for it, you will find it."

The fox frowned.

"Also in love, you'll find that the seasons escape you and that your life has turned topsy turvy. You'll never find yourself quite the same again."

The fox spoke:

"What if I could have found you, and prevented you from ever loving in the first place, then you would have lived forever, right?"

The fox skull furrowed its brow – as skulls were known to do from time to time – and stared up at him.

"Yes, I believe I would. Though I don't know why I'd ever cast away the tranquility that comes with having the seasons escape me and my life turned topsy turvy. Love kills you only after giving you most everything you could ask for, at least most everything _I_ had ever asked for. In the end I find that I've lost myself and that all good things come to an end one day. And that, scruff, seems to me a much better existence then continuing to undertake the toils of mammalkind for the rest of eternity."

* * *

The fox's tail twitched in his sleep, prompting him to stuff it back under his blanket.

…

 _Closing Author's Note: What an odd dream for a fox to have. Still a lot easier to understand then the time he dreamt he was a butterfly, but that's neither here nor there._

 _Thanks for reading, let me know what you liked and didn't like!_

 _Oh, would you look at the time?_

 _Are you guys ready to go trick or treating?_


	5. A World Turned Topsy Turvy

_Opening Author's Note: Happy Halloween!_

…

 _Pat Pat_

 _Pat Pat Pat_

 _Pat_

 _"Fuch…"_ the patter said.

 _"Mmmmph_ …" The fox growned, turning away from the little paw patting him on the face.

" _Psst_!" the patter continued in a whisper. " _Psst fuch_!

"Nuh, ugh?"

The fox sat up in a hurry, still cocooned in his blankets. His eyes scanned around the room, _looking for whoever it was that dared to wake him at-_

Uh, where was that clock?

 _Five in the morning._

Oddly enough, there didn't seem to be anyone to focus his rage upon. He looked across the length of the room twice over just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Must have been imagining it. Regardless, it would have been nice if the imaginary mammal let him get his sleep. He had the sinking suspicion that today was going to be a long one, and he could really use all the sleep he could get his grubby fox paws on. If it would excuse him, he was going to just lay back down…

"Fuch" the imaginary mammal piped up again.

Nick sprung to attention once more, this time looking down.

"Edmund, what the heck? Didn't you hear what I said last night, about eating bunnies that disturb my sleep?"

The tyke looked at him with a blank expression, unamused and not the least bit threatened.

"Am canit sleep."

"You can't sleep?" the fox asked, only assured that he heard the fluff ball correctly when he began nodding his head. "Excited for tonight?"

The toddler answered with another nod, glumly resting his chin in his paws, his elbows sat upon the couch cushion.

.

.

.

"You hungry?"

Little Edmunds face regained its luster the moment he heard those words come out of the fox's mouth. He didn't want to risk the guy changing his mind; so he took the vulpine's paw in his own and all but dragged him off of the couch. Whether Nick consented to it or not, he was in for a brisk sprint to the kitchen.

…

Its unrabbit like, the way the bun tore into the piece of pumpkin pie the fox had given him. He ignored the kit-safe fork he was given, deciding to save time by shoving tiny fistfuls of delicious dessert into his waiting muzzle at once.

Nick shook his head in exasperation and exhaled breathily. Deciding he was going to need a bit of a pick me up himself, he opened the fridge and took out the pie tin again, grabbing the server so as to cut himself his own slice.

"Nuh!" Edmund shouted, raising a pie encrusted paw to the fox.

"No!?" Nick gasped, offended.

"Nuh, fuch nut hab pie!"

Nick placed his paw on his hip, shooting the little bunny – who amounted to little more than fluff between his teeth – an incredulous glare.

"And just why is it that little bunnies can have pumpkin pie for breakfast but foxes like little old me here-" he ran a paw up his frame, "-cant?"

The kit was only half listening, resuming the all-important task of caking his face with pie.

"Hey, did you hear me?" Nick insisted, tapping his foot against the tiled floor.

"Huh?" the kit asked, locking eyes with him, entirely nonplussed.

The fox rolled his eyes, deciding to cut himself a slice after all.

"Nuh! Fuch, _stup_." The tyke insisted, paw raised again.

"Why?" Nick exclaimed. "Why do you get to eat pie and I don't?"

"Cause! Ahm am _grownd-down_."

"You're a grown-down?" The tod inquired, more confused now than annoyed.

The rabbit nodded.

"What is a 'grown-down'?"

The kit didn't even attempt to conceal the fact that he was rolling his eyes. How could this fuch – excuse me, _fox_ – be so uncultured? It's almost as if he learned nothing back at fox school, which was made specifically for foxes.

"Yu _grownd-up_ , ahm _grownd-down_." He explained nice and slowly, making sure to enunciate so that his vulpine conversational partner could understand the words which were coming out of his mouth.

"I'm beginning to understand…"

"Grownd-up canit hab dirst por breknast. Onli grownd-down."

"Well, why didn't you just say so." Nick laughed, sitting down across from his little friend in resignation.

"Ahm tred! Fuch dunt list ten!"

"No, I suppose I don't…"

.

.

.

"Edmund?" Nick asked.

He looked up from his pie.

This better be good. If this fox continues to interrupt him while he tries to have a nice dessert-breakfast he may just blow a gasket.

"I was wondering…"

Spit it out fox, he's starving here.

"Man, how can I put this in a way you'd understand…"

Anyway works. Anyway at all is better than the way you are currently going about it.

"Have you…"

.

.

.

"Have you ever had, like… 'a crush', or something?"

.

.

.

The bunny locked eyes with the fox. He seemed to bore into his soul with an understanding deeper than anyone Nick had ever encountered in his many years on this planet. He's been a thousand places, met a thousand mammals and hustled a thousand hustlers. Not one creature in the world has ever seemed to understand him better then the toddler sitting across the table from him at this very moment.

Edmund broke eye contact first, looking down at his pie so that he could grab another pawful before continuing with the act of smearing most of it on his fuzzy little face before he manages to get it in his 'o' shaped mouth.

"Figures…"

"Mmmph…" another rabbit groaned, stumbling into the room. A drowsy Judy braced herself against the counter, only slightly surprised to find Edmund and Nick at the breakfast table.

"What are you doing up this early?" she asked, an eyebrow raising shortly thereafter. "And are you feeding him sweets for breakfast?"

"It's fine," he assured her, leaning back in his wooden kitchen chair. "He's a grownd-down."

Judy rolled her eyes before yanking the plate away from the resisting Edmund, giving her little brother a look that assured him that she wasn't messing around. She placed it on the stove top and began rummaging through the fridge.

"What's up?" the fox asked.

"Looking for something a little healthier…" she hummed, pulling out lettuce and setting aside. "With tonight's candy caper looming over our heads, this very well may be his last real meal before his inevitable death by candy overdose."

Edmund blinked.

If that was the way he was destined to go, then so be it. He'll go quietly into that sweet, _sweet_ night.

She took out a relatively fresh basket of blueberries, pausing for a moment. Closing her eyes, she smiled to herself.

"Or, I mean, it might be nice to get something good in his stomach before he gets sick mid-way through the night and barfs all over your feat."

Nick startled a little, nearly tipping backwards in his chair.

"Has that been known to happen?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find out first-paw how things usually go around here." She consoled him.

Leaving him to imagine what horrible fate awaits him come night fall, she cut apple slices, tossing them into the salad she was currently making.

"So, that being said, are you two excited to go trick-or-treating?" the doe asked.

"Ye!" Edmund shouted ecstatically, nodding his head and losing the frown he had been wearing moments ago, leaving Nick with no choice but to contract his infectious smile and echo his sentiments.

"I know I am!" a voice shouts, heavy footsteps heralding the arrival of another bunny. Charlie yawned upon entering the kitchen, quickly taking his place next to Edmund. Joey and Claire followed closely behind, eventually catching up to their portly sibling and finding their own seats amongst the table.

"We're having breakfast." Judy explains, cutting red onions for the salad.

"Ok, I'll have some pie if that's alright." Charlie stated, rubbing his eyes wearily.

"It isn't, and I'm not taking requests."

"Then what even is the point of eating!?" he cried bitterly.

Judy said nothing, choosing instead to stare him down. The kit sunk back into his chair, defeated.

"Can I have salad?" Claire whispered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Sure can, sweet heart." Her sister replied, tossing the onion slices into the salad bowl.

"I thought you said that you aren't taking requests?" Joey inquired.

"I'm not, I was already making salad."

Nick leaned back in again, likely having not learned his lesson last time he nearly tipped over. He twiddled his thumbs.

"So what about you two?" Judy began. "Are you excited to trick-or-treat?"

"Are you kidding me?" Joey exclaimed, standing up in his chair. "This is going to be the best Halloween ever!"

"And you, Claire?"

The little doe opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. Instead, she set her head down on the table and began to sob quietly.

Nick sat up anxiously, concern painting his face.

"What's wrong honey bun?" he asked.

"I-" she gasped, raising her flushed face off the table. "I just thought about how cool my costume is and I'm just so happy!" she explained, fanning herself with her open paw.

Nick turned to look at Judy, and coincidently she did just the same. Noticing one another's eyes, they smiled warmly.

"What about you, Jude?" Trisha asked, joining in on the party.

Geeze Louise. Good thing this is a rabbit kitchen. With the rate bunnies are entering the room, it would be a miracle if the place wasn't max capacity by the time Judy finished making breakfast.

"I think it's gonna be pretty sweet!" the doe explained cheerily, still going about her business. "Which is exactly the reason why we don't trick our foxy guest here-" she paused, pushing Edmund back into his chair before he could get up and head for the pumpkin pie on the stove top"- into giving us pie first thing in the morning."

Edmund folded his arms across his chest and pouted, drawing a giggle out of Trisha.

" _Well,_ seeing as you're already making breakfast…" Trish began.

"Absolutely not, you're not a kit anymore. Make it yourself."

"Ah!" her sister scoffed, feigning hurt. "I was gonna ask you if Nick and I could help out, but seeing as Jude the dude has an attitude today, you'll just have to suit yourself." She finished, turning her head away from her sister.

.

.

.

"Wait."

Trisha waited expectantly.

"I might be able to use the extra paws…"

…

"So, what are you two going as tonight?" Trisha asked before taking a bite of leafy greens.

"The big sister?" Judy replied, taking her bowl of salad from Nick "Legal guardian?"

"Handsome devil." The fox replied having served everyone their food, ready to start on his own meal.

"Well, that's no fun at all." Trisha complained, munching on a stick of celery.

"I think we've outgrown dressing up is all." Judy said, sitting cross legged in her seat.

"You haven't."

"Whatever" the doe replied, rolling her eyes.

"Tell you what, I'll watch the kits for an hour. You guys go get costumes."

"Really, it's not that big of a deal Trish."

Nick's eyes darted between the two sisters as they bickered. Clearly, arguing was not something exclusive to the little ones in this family.

"Fine!" Judy exclaimed, "We'll get costumes if it will make you feel better."

"Thanks, it will." Trisha assured her. "Though I'm sure you'll be the one thanking me by the end of it." She concluded with a shrug.

…

"So how did you get to bed last night?" Trisha asked, scrubbing the forks clean as her sister washed the bowls.

"Wha-"

She paused, the sounds of kits laughing as they played with Nick in the other room resounding throughout the quiet household.

"What are you talking about?"

"Last I'd seen you, you were out like a light; all cuddled up with that fox of yours." Trisha laughed, scrubbing Edmund's fork with a little bit of elbow grease.

Judy paused for a moment, staring out the window overlooking the kitchen sink. Realizing that she was just letting the water run, she continued scrubbing.

"I think…" she began, trying to find the words, "I think Nick put me to bed."

Trisha gave a breathy whistle. Smiling as she nodded, still trying to clean Edmunds fork.

"Lucky you, was that all-"

"Trish." Judy interrupted.

"What?"

"I think I'm in love."

She dropped the tykes fork into the sudsy water, never to be seen again.

"Judy, that's gre-"

"No, trish! You don't understand!" the doe interrupted, her voice shaky.

"Well, what's there to understand?" Trisha asked, her expression becoming worried.

"I think I'm in love and now I'm going costume shopping with him and my emotions are all over the place and-" Judy threw her paws up in their air, beginning to choke on her words.

"Jay, I think that's the opposite of a problem, I-" she began to reach a paw out to her sister, only to notice that it was still wet.

"No!" the hero cop cried out, her own soaked paws pressed to her face. "I'm _so_ stupid!"

"You're not." Trisha consoled, wiping her paw off on her skirt before setting it on her sister's shoulder. "Lighten up, most mammals aren't usually this torn up about this sort of th-"

Judy shrugged the paw off her shoulder, taking a step back.

"We're best friends and _now I want to ruin it_."

Trisha sighed, leaning against the sink.

"Breathe sis, you aren't going to ruin anything."

"No no, I am though." she replied candidly, pressing her paws to her face again. Gentle sobs escaped her muzzle.

Her sister approached her again, this time wrapping her in a tight embrace.

"Oh god, Trish, what would mom and dad say?"

.

.

.

"Um…"

Judy sobbed into her sister's blouse.

"I don't think they'd" be all that torn up about it." Trisha said, patting her sister on the back.

She rocked the doe back and forth soothingly as they stood there, the tap still running.

"You don't have to act on this." Trisha whispered in Judy's floppy, grey ear. "But I say you give it a shot."

"I can't, you know I can't."

"I know you can."

"This is _so bad_ , Trish."

.

.

.

"Believe me, it really isn't."

…

"So, any idea what you want to wear tonight?" Nick asked, sifting through the costumes on the rack.

"I don't know…" the doe replied.

"Nice, nice…"

He watched her as she moved from rack to rack, pawing at the costumes half-heartedly before moving on to the next.

Seeing her this morning, he can't help but find it hard to believe that his life could be turned on its head all over again by one rabbit, over the course of one short day.

It made for a nice summer though.

Or was it spring?

 _Whatever._

"You know what," he said, craving her attention.

"Huh?" she mumbled back at him.

"Why don't we just coordinate?"

 _He wants to what?_

The rabbit turned to see the fox smiling awkwardly, his teeth bared and shiny against the grungy back drop the store provided.

She couldn't help but grin back.

"Alright slick, I'm game. Got anything in mind?"

"Hmm…" he hummed, giving the costumes another once over as Judy walked a little closer.

"You could be Porkenstein, and I can be Porkenstein's monster?"

"Mmmm…" The rabbit wondered. "I don't think that will work…"

"You're right. Maybe I should be Porkenstein, and you can be Porkenstein's monster."

"No, that's even dumber…"

The rabbit hopped over to the next costume rack, sorting through that one as well.

.

.

.

"Maybe I could be Doctor Jeckel, and you could be Hyde?" she suggested.

"Eh…"

"That a no?"

"Yes."

"So it's a yes."

"No."

Judy bit her lip and scowled at the fox.

"Well-" she began.

 _Wait._

She pulled a costume off the rack she had been scouring. A red faux-satin dress, complete with a set of sharp fangs poised for drinking the unsuspecting victim dry.

" _Wanna be vampires_?"

"How would that even work, what, with your buck tee- _Yowch_!" yelped, rubbing his unsuspecting arm, having just fallen prey to a malevolent piece of fluff.

"Today's a new day, and if you don't think I have any intention of taking full advantage of that fact you're _sorely_ mistaken."

 _You already have, rabbit!_

Not that he could really be all that angry when her oversized, amethyst eyes are staring him down like that. Truth be told, he might just let her kick him every night if he could hold her close again.

Now, why would he go and think something like that?

"Why aren't you laughing?" the rabbit asked, snapping at the fox and bringing him back to reality.

"Huh?"

"I made a pun."

"Oh, _haha_! Good one!" he congratulated her.

"C'mon Nick! I said you're 'sorely mistaken' and I punched you; so you're sore."

"Nice, nice."

 _Why is he so spacy today?_

"So, Vampires then?" the fox continued, trying to return the conversation back to its original track.

"You wanna?"

He grinned at her a half lidded grin.

"Sure, I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a vampire costume over…" he walked to the other side of the store, dragging her along for the ride, eventually reaching the male vampire costume, denoted by the rabbit wearing the Ratula costume.

Judy the photo caught the does eye, leading to a laugh that seemed to startle every costumer in the shop.

" _Is that my dad_?"

"Ok, that was exactly my first thought. I'm so glad we're on the same page here." The fox said, pulling costumes off the rack, trying to find it in his size.

" _Wait_."

"What?"

"They don't carry anything in fox size here."

Judy smiled smugly before handing him her costume, going through the rack herself.

"You're right, they don't…" she explained. "But I'll tell you what size they do carry…"

She plucked a single costume out from the bunch of bunny sized suits. She handed it to him triumphantly, taking her own costume back in the process. The tag read "H.R"

Nick undid the packaging and took a look for himself.

 _Huh_

Why didn't he think of that? A tall hare _is_ about the size of a fox, after all.

…

A tall hare is _not_ the size of a fox. Close, but not quite right.

Not right enough to be comfortable, that's for sure.

Nick – constricted by his outfit – turned round in circles as the kits ran rings about him, making it difficult to put his vampire teeth in properly. Night had fallen once more, and most of Judy's family had already taken to the trails, already partaking in the dark ritual of: getting some candy.

"Hurry up or were going to be late!" Charlie exclaimed as he hopped up and down, alternating which foot he landed on. "If we're late that means no candy so we gotta move, _now_!"

"Guh!" Edmund shouted, spreading his super bunny cape out as he ran around the living room.

"How are they already _this_ energized?" Nick whined at Judy as he fanned out his own cape, the cloth creating a nebulous dark crimson wave as he shook it.

"Wait! I can't find my hat!" Joey stormed into the living room, desperation consuming his face

"Ok, ok! Cool it!" Judy announced, hushing the child. "Did you check the package your costume came in? You might have left it inside."

"It wasn't in there!" the frazzled rabbit yelped.

"Are we sure the costume even came with a hat?" the fox inquired, tying the cloak tight around his neck.

"It did, I think I remember seeing it under the included items on the label…" Judy groaned.

"Yeah, and it's on the picture in the front!" the kit added.

"Nick?" Judy asked with a lisp, putting her vampire fangs in place.

"Huh?"

"Did you check to make sure everything it said was included _was_ included before you actually bought the set?" she continued, situating the fangs in her small mouth.

"Uhh… ye-" the fox's voice trailed off; the rabbit staring him down.

" _No_."

"Ok, _well_ a cop doesn't need a hat anyways." Judy explained, turning around so that nick could zip up her dress.

"But Ma said _you_ had one when you were little!"

Judy paused.

 _Huh_

"You aren't wrong…"

Nick watched the rabbit as she pondered something, and so he took to pondering something of his own. She was _kinda_ cute when she did that thing whenever she went deep into her thoughts. The way she put her paw to her chin and bit her thumb. The way her right eye would narrow – not her left, just her right – as she looked on the cusp of solving everything there was to be solved. It was all _kinda_ cute.

"You know, I might still have the old thing."

"Sis, I can't…"

" _I insist_."

"but it's _your_ hat!"

The doe laughed, a fang coming out of place as she threw her head back. She readjusted it.

Nick realized in that moment that he may need to talk to this rabbit.

"I told you, officers don't _need_ hats[CH1] ."

…

"Ok, wait out here, I'll go find it." Judy explained, unlocking the door to her old bedroom. "Be out in a sec."

She stood there in the doorway for a moment, the look on her face telling Nick that she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words to say it. She shook her head before taking a step inside.

She turned back.

"Nick, could you give me a paw? I haven't looked through this junk in years."

Half of her closed mouth rose into something like a grin. Was it a grin? Did she have something in her teeth?

Dumbstruck all the same, he nodded and took those few steps required to get through the threshold of the door.

Once he was through, the door was shut, leaving the younger buns on the other side, out of sight and out of mind for the moment.

.

.

.

A stunned silence fell over the kits. They stared at one another in shock for a moment.

Not a moment longer, however, as within the next second they took to running down the halls and out the front door, intent on finding Judy's outside window.

…

" _Alright_ " Nick said coolly, flexing stretching his paws, getting them warmed up for the impending hat hunt, "Got any idea's where this old cap of yours might be?"

Throwing her closet doors open, Judy took to rummaging through an old keepsake chest.

"I'm pretty sure it's in here."

.

.

.

"Oh…"

"What?" the doe asked, turning around.

"It's just… I thought you needed my help is all." The fox replied, falling back on her bed.

"Oh" she cleared her throat, "Guess I just thought I did."

.

.

.

Nick bounced in place a little, leaving a fox shaped indentation in the foamy mattress.

"You know, this thing is a heck of a lot softer then the couch."

"Mmm…" the rabbit hummed, tossing her kindergarten graduation certificate beside her as she rummaged through the chest. "Ah ha!" she shouted triumphantly.

Nick sat up as his partner turned around, revealing a little blue police cap held proudly in her paws. She dusted it off and looked it over a few times, feeling the soft blue denim from which it was made.

"Haven't seen this since my theater days…" she joked, running a paw across its top again.

"You acted huh?"

She giggled softly and looked down at her feet, still stroking the cap. She looked to be remembering something. Something vivid.

"School plays…"

"Oh! _Right_ , that's where the whole blood, blood-" he drew a paw from his stomach and threw it in the air each time he spoke the word blood, "-and whatever came from, right? _Gotcha_."

Judy laughed again, still lost in the simpler times.

"Mhm…" she hummed through a grin.

.

.

.

"You know, Carrots" Nick began.

"Yes, I do know quite a bit."

Nick laughed, rubbing a paw down his already weary face.

"What you're doing here, it's a good thing. You're pretty good with kits."

Judy slid from her nostalgic trance, looking up at the fox again.

"Me? Don't get me started. You're great with kits!"

"Aw shucks, tell me something I don't know." He said bashfully with a flippant toss of his paw, jokingly dismissing the compliment.

She rolled her eyes, but decided to continue showering him with praise.

"Really, you'd make a good father, you know that?"

"I do. I said it before and I'll say it again: _tell me something I don't know_."

"I wouldn't mind raising a few kits with you by my side."

A sewing needle dropped from the rabbit's dresser and the crash resonated beautifully through the dense silence that filled the room in that very moment. The screams and giggles of trick or treaters and the sounds of shuffling little feet outside the house were absorbed entirely. All cries of the outside world were put on mute until further notice.

Nick's eyes seemed ready to pop out of his skull, but they were breadcrumbs in comparison to the dish plates Judy's had become.

She wanted to open her mouth and take back what she said. Her muzzle curled into a tight little "o" as she tried to form syllables.

"Nick?" she said.

"Judy?"

"Your uh… your collar is kinda lopsided."

Nick's gaze snapped from the bunny with pretty purple eyes and down to his neck where his crimson popped collar sat. He grabbed its edges and adjusted it the best he could.

"Wait, I've got it." She said, tossing the hat aside and hopping up onto her bed.

Her weak knees gave out.

She grasped for the fox's shirt.

She missed.

Caught in red paws.

Nick wrapped an arm around her waist, her crimson dress clashing with the comparatively orangish red of his arm.

"I think we both know where this is going, carrots."

She nodded fiercely, helping him close the gap between their muzzles. She pressed her weight against him until he relented and fell backwards against the bedsheets, struggling to keep her tongue in his mouth for as long as she could stand without breathing.

Good, they _were_ indeed still on the same page.

She felt as if she could melt right into him.

He felt as if he had just caught those high hanging grapes that had alluded his kind for centuries.

The doe finally pulled of him, letting the two breathe as she swiped the wet string of saliva connecting their muzzles away. A fang fell out of her mouth and onto the fox's chest.

" _See_! I told you, bunny vampires don't make any goat damn sense!"

Two rabbit paws grabbed at his still lopsided collar and yanked him towards their owner, making up for opportunities missed since the two first met and shutting his goat damn trap up.

…

" _Huh!?_ " Edmund gasped violently as if the wind had been knocked out of him.

"What, What?!" His siblings pleaded to be let in on the secret. Charlie blew his cape out of his face, the younger rabbit standing on his shoulders so as to get a better view through their sister's window.

" _Judy do kisses fuchs_!"

" _What_!?" came the collective cry of the remaining siblings.

Edmund looked through the window again.

Uh oh.

He hopped off of Charlies shoulders, picking his cape up so that he wouldn't step on it.

"Guh guh guh _guh_!"he shouted, toddling off at full speed.

"Go?" Joey asked, beginning to chase after the tyke.

"Why?" Claire added, running just the same.

"Guys, can we _please_ stop running so much?" Charlie punctuated, sprinting as fast as his tubby legs would take him.

…

Judy opened her bed room door – fox in paw – only to find her siblings standing outside the door, as well behaved as they had ever been.

"Um, hey guys…"

"Hi!" Joey greeted nervously.

"Hey sis!" Claire added quickly.

"Um…" Charlie began.

Joey stomped on his foot as discreetly as a child could manage. Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Ayyy…" the tubby rabbit finished, waving his paw in an awkward hello.

Edmund stared at the duo for a moment, trying to decide on what to say. What should he go with? A simple, 'what's up?', the moral formal 'salutations'? Perhaps a 'We who are about to die, salute you!' is in order.

"Ha du fuch tast?" he asked, a paw raised and an eyebrow arched.

Judy nearly swallowed her tongue, looking up at Nick; who seemed to have just recovered from the worlds shortest heart attack.

"I- we uh… we didn't?"

The kits looked at the couple completely nonplussed.

Joey folded his arms, reminiscent of a parent you had just finished lying to.

Nick looked down at the bun at his side; and decided there was only one decent and proper thing to do now.

He scooped her up in his arms, planting a polite smooch on her unsuspecting lips; before propping the astonished rabbit up on his shoulders, lending her his paw to keep her balance.

She choked out a laugh, still completely dazed by what had just happened.

"Who's ready to get some candy!?" he shouted, starting the march down the hallway.

The house rocked until they made it outside, the kit's cheers, applause and general cries of victory rattling every window and scaring all the older rabbits still at home. Then, when they got outside, their song was allowed to ring out into the night for a while, heralding a new beginning.

The candy hounds of hell took to the lamp lit paths, ready to leave only terror in their screeching wake.

…

"Alrigh-" the fox paused, allowing the pre-recorded scream emanating from the nearby home's recorder to finish it's ghostly wails. "Alright, this is our first stop." He finished, pointing at the blood encrusted door sat behind dozens of skeleton props, faux-corpses sticking up from the ground and a layer of fog blanketing it ominously.

"Uh, I don't know about this one… Maybe we should try the next house." Joey, the first hound of hell recommended.

"Yeah, I don't think they'd really have good candy anyways…" Charlie added worried.

"Frog…" the tyke added.

Nick looked at Judy, smiling smugly.

"Oh, trust me," he said, turning back to Charlie, "houses like this always have the _best_ candy."

Claire cleared her throat, tapping her paws anxiously on the cardboard car encompassing her.

"I uh… I think we can settle, right guys?"

"Yup, yup…" Charlie agreed, rubbing his shoulder. Joey nodded.

Edmund stuck a paw out to Nick, his eyes closed firmly shut.

Joey looked up at Nick, looking for something he could trust. As he expected, he found it, sticking his paw out and closing his eyes as well. Claire followed suit.

Judy laughed in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me? Are we really- _Whatever_!" Charlie whined, mirroring his siblings.

The fox took the four rabbit paws before turning to his partner.

"Scared?" he asked, holding out his paw to her.

" _Not anymore_." She replied, taking it, lacing her fingers between his, reveling in just how warm he manages to stay even when it's the dead of night, late October.

…

"We have arrived!" Nick exclaimed, unravelling his paw from the kit's, leaving his other paw alone. It was fine just where it was for right now, he reckoned.

"Remember, _what do we say_?" Judy asked.

The kits gave thumbs up, really just glad to have made it through the gauntlet.

Nick rung the door bell, twice, and together they waited in anticipation. First house of the night and it's shaping up to be a good one.

The door creaked softly as it swung open, gentle as can be. What could be awaiting them on the other side? Some final trial? A masked man from which they must retrieve the candy? A goblin? _A demon_?

"Trick or treat!"

"Ohhhhh!" the elderly rabbit cooed as the door revealed her fragile figure. "Such sweet rabbits! And a handsome fox! I'll tell you, if I wasn't married…"

Judy squeezed the fox's paw a little tighter, raising an eyebrow at the women.

"Oh, phooey…" she crooned disappointedly, reaching for her candy bowl.

"Well still, you're costumes are very dashing!" She said, placing oversized bags of candy into each of the kit's hand woven baskets. "I particularly like yours darling, did you make it yourself?" she asked the tiny sister.

"He did!" the toddler affirmed, pointing at Nick.

"Oh, and crafty too!" she swooned. "Old age is a bitter master..."

"I uh, had some help." Nick insisted, ignoring that last comment.

The door eventually closed, leaving the kits to revel in just how big their candy bags were.

"We _need_ to find another house like this one." Charlie insisted, turning to his siblings.

" _Agreed_." They unanimously voted, taking off down the creepy path set before them.

Nick's jaw dropped as he watched the buns navigate the road which was previously so horrifying to them.

"Well…" Judy began, squeezing his paw again, "I'm still a _little_ scared, so you best not be letting go any time soon."

Nick smiled at her, raising their conjoined paws to his lips to kiss hers gently.

"In that case, shall we away, fairer parental figure?"

She chuckled, charmed.

" _We shall_."

…

"Ay!" A very tired Edmund shouted, startling a kit they had been walking beside for a good minute now, somehow avoiding the rabbit's watchful gaze. The other bunny wore the same costume as him, which was, in hindsight, a bad move on his part.

"Yu _sdole mah cotume_!" the tyke insisted.

"What? Enunciate!" the other child said, likely not knowing what the word 'enunciate' even meant."

"He didn't steal anything buddy, lets continue on home. We've got to get you to bed." The fox consoled, patting the child on the back.

"Yu sdoled!" Edmund cried again.

Slipping from Nick's grasp the sleepy bunny was upon his enemy in seconds, wrestling him to the ground. Thankfully, he had passed out on the opposing kit as quickly as he had reached him.

The kit's parents weren't too keen with Nick and Judy's parenting skills, but fuck em.

…

"Yeah?" the fox asked with a chuckle, nudging up against his partner as he walked, toddler held tight in his arms.

" _Yeah._ " She said with a smile, bringing his face down to meet hers as he opened the door to the Hopps' family burrow.

They punctuated their Halloween night with a kiss, the kits surrounding them either too sleepy or too unconscious to react, only separating when the door opened.

Bonnie and Stu stood behind in the doorway, jaws somewhere on the floor.

"Mom!? Dad!? Judy screeched. "I…"

Nick fought to swallow his heart back down.

"Oh…" Bonnie whispered. "Oh _thank goat_!" she cried, swooning up against her husband.

"We can see that you've got your paws full." Stu smiled as he nodded at Edmund, "So we'll let you in, but you need to talk to us in the morning." He finished, supporting his wife with a loving paw as he turned to walk away.

"You _are_ staying the night, _right_ _son_?"

Nick fought to close his gaping mouth, simply nodding in agreement.

"Great, thanks for doing this by the way, big help. I was going to ask you if you'd be willing to come again next year but…" he looked at his daughter, equally moonstruck. " _that_ answers _that_ question. Night!"

The partners in – fighting – crime looked at each other, still a little unsure of what had just happened.

…

"Oh sweet Jesus Capybara" the fox said with a groan, sitting down next to Judy amidst the lit pumpkins atop the burrow, "I can't begin to explain how nice it feels to be out of that costume."

"I think we were kinda cute." Judy snickered, lulling her head against her fox's shoulder.

"Us? Cute?" the fox scoffed. " _Hardly_."

The doe said nothing but rolled her eyes.

.

.

.

"Are you ok?" Judy began, "I mean, with how we turned out?"

.

.

.

He took her by the chin, running a clawed digit across her lips.

"Am I?" He questioned right back before kissing her lightly, and then once more with a bit more vigour. " _I'd certainly say so_."

Yup, still on the same page then

"Happy Halloween by the way" he said as he grinned against her lips. He gently pushed her back until they laid on the grass, tangled together as only a fox and a rabbit could be. "Oh, and you're gonna have to get used to this. I fully intend on doing it once or twice a day from now on, maybe more if you'd let me."

She groaned against his teeth as they scraped lightly against the fluff of her neck. There were so many things she could say.

"That sounds really nice."

"I think I might just let you."

"I love you"

She settled for the most obvious one, because truth be told, her mind wasn't where it usually was.

"Happy Halloween."

…

 _Closing Author's Note: Shoot! Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. SHOOT! This was supposed to be out yesterday. I had an entire schedule worked out. One update a day until Halloween hits, culminating in the trick or treating chapter. I was out pretty much all of yesterday, so I had no time to work on it until later that night. It was outlined, and really I just needed to work off of what I had already established, but my stomach started bothering me and I was frustrated and it was all shaping up to be a terrible night and I was hating everything I was writing down._

 _Needless to say, I didn't update._

 _I apologize profusely for the mix up, and have since learned my lesson. From now on, I'll write seasonal event chapters several weeks in advance so that I can just chill and upload at my leisure._

 _Uhhh, not that I have anything like this planned for the future, no way._

 _Regardless, I hope you all had a nice Halloween (if you celebrate it!) and enjoyed trick-or-treating or partying or whatever it is that the cool kids do. I wouldn't know, I just write fanfiction and go on Tumblr when I'm not with my equally dorky friends or studying for class._

 _Thanks for sticking with me all the way through this fluff filled mess! Regular readers of mine will be seeing a return to form with the next chapter of "What I Didn't Do" launching relatively soon, but some more fluff might be coming your way in due time. Might want to stick around and see if that suits you!_

 _As always, let me know how you liked the story! I upload these because I love interacting with all of you silly wildehopps shippers; and I literally gain like years to my life every time someone comments. If there wasn't so much author/reader interaction going on between myself and you guys, I'd honestly just keep all these crummy little tales for myself! So leave me a comment/review if you've the time, hell, pm me if the mood strikes. I honestly smile every time I see a notification from one of you sweat hearted people._

 _Now, if you'll excuse me, I haven't slept well in a few days and would like to catch up on that._

 _Oh, and Happy Halloween!_


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